Solar Cookers International Network (Home)

 

minneapolis couple's solar cookers help feed the world

by neal st. anthony
1,071 words
11 november 2002
14:59
associated press newswires
english
copyright 2002. the associated press. all rights reserved.
 

minneapolis (ap) - a decade ago, mike port, who worked for a food bank, and his wife, martha port, an insurance underwriter, prayed that one day they could work on a mission that would make a difference and provide a modest income.

"we knew we weren't going to be independently wealthy, but we wanted to be independently happy," mike port said.

the ports, of minneapolis, haven't been paid for the past 14 months. but their mission has the potential to improve nutrition, health and the environment on several continents, including north america.

one family at a time.

the ports, in the ultimate act of faith in a capitalist economy, also borrowed against their house and have refused nearly $60,000 in combined salary since september 2001. their solar oven society is scrimping to invest everything it can raise to fine-tune the plant and commence mass production of what backers hope will be 100,000 economical solar cookers annually.

volunteer engineers, assemblers and office workers have spent several months preparing the launch from solar oven's minneapolis office and plant on east hennepin avenue. solar oven moved there in june after several years in free space at the ports' st. paul church, summit avenue assembly of god. even the new landlord has reduced monthly lease payments from $3,800 to $3,000 through next june.

"this all started when we read an article about solar cookers that said the united nations estimates that more than 2 billion people don't have fuel or can't afford charcoal or wood to heat their food around the world," mike port said. "solar cookers are an answer to that problem in many countries."

trees are stripped and cut down for buildings and to cook daily meals.

little or no reforestation takes place, destabilizing the land and increasing the devastation of drought and floods. women and children spend hours a day foraging for waste wood. cooking over open fires or leaky stoves, particularly in huts, leads to horrendous rates of lung cancer and eye disease.

the ports, backed by several local rotary chapters and midwest churches, spent years financing and delivering early-generation cookers made by others to central america, africa, asia and elsewhere through missionaries and other nonprofits. there were flimsy cardboard and cracked-plastic versions that didn't last. and metal containers that were too hot to handle in the sun.

several years ago, the ports, john roach, a retired 3m co. engineer and solar oven board member, and other technical volunteers started designing what has evolved into the sos sport. it's a lightweight, durable oven made mostly of recycled materials that can heat to high temperatures in the summer or winter sun.

in africa or annandale.

"we've been using the new solar cooker at demonstration projects in villages in kenya," said penny njoroge, a kenyan affiliated with that country's prince of hope and healing international. "it's simple to use and very exciting.

"this will mean a lot to women who have to spend hours to collect wood, cook over the smoke and get health problems of chest-lung disease and infected eyes. and the little girls who must work with their mothers ... should go to school with the boys rather than being sent to the woods. the solar cooking is reaching deeper than people imagine."

the cookers also are used to quickly heat water, ridding it of disease-carrying bacteria, once the temperature hits above 152 degrees for 10 minutes or longer. untreated water is a leading contributor to illness and death in some nations.

the simple, sturdy ovens can be easily assembled without tools in one minute.

the ports, both 55, also have volunteers from several countries working from solar oven's offices in concert with foreign governments, village councils and in-country agencies to help coordinate, finance and deliver thousands of the $33 per-unit cookers.

and they are selling sos sport ovens, pots and accessories for $89.95 to the public as another way to raise money among adventurous americans who will discover that this solar oven is pretty nifty on a sunny day.

"all we really need at this point is about $200,000 to buy the materials to make tens of thousands of cookers and really ramp up production," said roach, 66, one of several 3m volunteers. "we've got the volunteer labor signed on.

"i was a 3m mechanical engineer for 35 years, the last 25 or so working on solar development. great job, great family and life. i've got a lot to pay back to the lord. i'm focused on third world development of solar. they don't have much gas or electric. and this really works."

the sos sport consists of a clear, double-layered plastic shell that attracts and retains heat like a greenhouse; a durable, dense housing - each made from several dozen recycled pop jugs. there's a collar, also made of recycled plastic; aluminum liner and foam insulation.

solar oven says its two-kettle solar sport easily attains heat of 210 to 266 degrees, perfect for slow, passive cooking that retains nutrients often lost through boiling or baking.

it's a low-cost alternative to a $225, heavier fiberglass model.

"we hope to drive our cost of production down from $33 per unit to $25 per unit as orders rise," said mike port. "we want to be self-sufficient off our sales in the american market. and we're starting to attract sponsors for our foreign shipments."

already, volunteers are assembling 400 cookers for shipment to afghanistan. they're underwritten by the nisswa evangelical free church and several other brainerd-area churches. a group of evangelical lutheran churches in south dakota are funding an initial shipment of 50 cookers to cameroon. and rotary chapters - mike port belongs to one of them - around the twin cities are donating dollars and volunteers.

coca-cola, interested in new markets for born-again plastic, paid $50,000 of the $110,000 to develop the injection mold for the housing, designed by lakeland tool of anoka. the minnesota office of environmental assistance covered the rest. allied plastics of minneapolis designed the lid mold.

"the molds are good for 1 million ovens," mike port said. "our goal is to produce that over the next five years."

jordan 11 legend bluelebron 12michael kors outletLebron 11kate spade outletmichael kors outletcoach factory outletlouis vuitton outletmichael kors outletlebron 11jordan 11 legend blueblack toe 14slebron 12jordan 6 black infraredjordan 11 legend bluecoach factory outletlegend blue 11sjordan 11 legend bluelebron 11 Biscaynelebron 12