Cooking with the Sun
by Jennifer Davidson
When Dr. Robert Metcalf first used a solar cooker, the future changed for thousands-
maybe millions of Africans.
"It was a transforming experience for me when I lifted the lid from my first solar-cooked
food and watched the steam roll out," he said.
5 He knew that billions of poor people around the world depend on the use of wood for
cooking. And as they take more and more firewood from wild areas, they are destroying
habitats around the world. Wood collection is one reason why many animals have become
endangered and even extinct.
"But sunshine can be an alternative to fire," Dr. Metcalf says.
10 Since his first solar-cooked meal, he has helped people around the world to use simple new
technologies to cook their food and make their water safe to drink-without burning wood.
Villagers Hard at Work
Each morning in villages across East Africa, small children and their mothers wake up and
walk several miles to collect firewood to cook their food. Their journey takes much of the
day, and the heavy bundles they carry home on their heads last only a few days.
15 This is why Dr. Metcalf spends each summer in Africa. He teaches women and children in
villages and refugee camps how to cook with the sun.
How a Solar Cooker Works
A simple solar cooker is made of cardboard or foam panels covered with aluminum foil.
The cook must use a dark-colored pot, which absorbs more light than any other surface.
He or she places the solar cooker in direct sunlight, then puts the covered pot of food in
a clear plastic bag and sets it in the middle of the cooker.
Over a few hours, the reflecting panels direct sunlight into the pot. The dark surface
absorbs the light, which changes from light energy into heat. The plastic bag holds in
the heat. The temperate can reach about 250 degrees Fahrenheit-hot enough for
cooking and baking.Dr. Metcalf knows the importance of cooking to make food safe. He is a scientist who
studies germs. He wanted to help answer two important questions: How can more people
cook without fire? And how can they make sure their drinking water is safe?
20 To find answers, Dr. Metcalf helped create Solar Cookers International. It's an organization
that introduces solar cookers to developing countries and teaches people how to use them.
Technology That's Easy
In the district of Nyakach in Kenya, women use sunlight to cook their traditional meals of
ground white corn, or ugali, which is mixed with rice, beans, and vegetables.
Instead of building a fire, they mix the food in a dark pot, put the pot into a clear plastic
25 bag, and place the pot and bag in a solar cooker. The cooker is an open box, lined with
aluminum foil and shaped to reflect sunlight onto the pot. The dark surface of the pot
absorbs much of the light, turning the light energy into heat, which cooks the food.
"The women are very excited because it's easy, it works, and the food tastes great," says Dr.
Metcalf.
30 So far, more than thirty thousand African families now have solar cookers, and new
programs will introduce solar cookers to millions of families.
Making Water Safe
To find water, women and children may have to walk long distances to dig holes in dry
riverbeds or to gather water from streams and shallow wells.
They fill their buckets and carry them home on their heads. The buckets often weigh as
35 much as forty pounds. Not only is finding water hard work, but the water is often
contaminated with germs that make people sick.
Dr. Metcalf and others developed a simple, reusable device that people can use to make sure
their water is safe to drink. The device is called a WAPI, which stands for "Water
Pasteurization Indicators."
40 The pasteurization process is named after Louis Pasteur, who developed it in the 1800s. In
this process, harmful germs in water are killed by heating the water to 149 degrees
Fahrenheit for one minute. That's not boiling, but it's too hot to touch.
But many people in Africa do not have thermometers. They can use a WAPI instead. It's a
closed plastic tube with a ball of hard wax stuck inside one end.
using this context. How is the information in "How a Solar Cooker Works" different from the rest of the artic
A It states the author's opinion.
B It explains the steps of a process.
C It describes a main problem.
D It tells the benefits of solar cooking.