Promotion of cooking practices

VEHA - Field Implementation Guidance

Welcome

Nutrition

Behaviour Change

Food processing - storage

Promotion of cooking practices

Context

Overview

Environmental factors causing/contributing to the needs and affecting the humanitarian activity

The cooking demonstration can help people to reduce their use of fuel, select more sustainable fuels where they are available, and reduce cooking times, which reduces the impact on their time, health, and the environment.

Different cooking sterilization methods have different environmental impacts. Boiling water using locally sourced timber may be unsustainable and cause air pollution. The use of sterilization tablets may be better for the environment or may require excessive transport emissions.

Disaster-affected communities may employ unsustainable or unsuitable techniques in the preparation and/or cooking of unfamiliar foods, leading to increased cooking times and energy consumption. This can also lead to food wastage.

The food system—encompassing the production, processing, marketing, and purchase of food and related consumer behaviours, resources, and institutions—appears to be struggling to deliver nutritious and healthy diets in an equitable manner.

Biodiversity loss, including critical crop pollinators, and loss of soil quality, will both have substantial impacts on local, national, and global fruit and vegetable supply and thereby on population health.

The relationship between food systems and the environment is complex because environmental changes are both a driver and an outcome of food systems.

Implications

Gender, age, disability and HIV/AIDS implications

Ensuring access to food preparation and distribution points for women, disabled persons, and young people is crucial in order to reduce existing inequalities and promote economic and social inclusion as well as limiting environmentally damaging practices.

Impacts

Environmental Impact Categories

Air pollution
Soil pollution
Water pollution
Deforestation
Desertification

Eutrophication
Climate change
Loss of biodiversity and ecosystems
Natural resource depletion
Soil erosion
Cultural acceptance
Impact on wellbeing / mental health

Summary of Impacts

Summary of Potential environmental impacts

Deforestation from overuse of timber (for cooking)
Waste from non appropriate cooking practices

Impact detail

Detailed potential environmental impact information

Overuse of timber from forests for cooking, sale, and charcoal production has a deep impact on the environment – leading to tree loss which affects other flora and fauna, soil condition, and even local climates.
Distributed nutrition items may not be culturally accepted or people may not know how to prepare them, resulting in them going to waste. Poorly managed solid waste can be a consequence of nutrition programmes, leading to pollution and disease spread.

Access to adequate milling and processing facilities can reduce environmental impacts because people do not use the surrounding Environnement as a backup. People living in camps require cooking fuel, which may accelerate local deforestation.
Cooked meals can have a range of environmental impacts including solid waste pollution from packaging, containers, and utensils; food waste, creating disease vectors/health risks and damage to proximate ecosystems; also vehicle distribution emissions.
Soil and water quality, weather patterns, and temperature influence food systems through their impact on the production, storage, and transportation of food. This, in turn, affects localized food environments—the place or places where consumers interact with the food system to buy and consume food (including markets, restaurants, and cafeterias, for example)— by influencing food availability, quality, safety, and affordability. GHG emissions from food production and waste affect temperatures, and eutrophication from agricultural runoff affects water quality.

Guidance

Summary

Summary of environmental activities

1. All kitchen supervisors, cooks, and ancillary personnel should be trained in personal hygiene and the principles of safe food preparation.

2. Cleaners should be employed to keep the kitchen and surrounding areas clean, they should be properly trained and supervised.

3. Water and soap must be provided for personal cleanliness and detergent for cleaning utensils; There must be adequate facilities for waste disposal.

4. Cooked food must not be stored, especially if it contains animal products

5. Review cooking sterilisation options and select the option that has the lowest environmental impact

6. Training in environmental impacts of different fuels sources and provision of more efficient stoves and fuel types

7. Training in good practice solid and organic waste reduction, re-use, recycling and disposal / composting.

Detail

Detailed guidance for implementing suggested environmental activities

Avoid or minimise the use of wood, charcoal, paraffin, and kerosene stoves – they affect people’s health and damage the environment. A very effective choice can be made at the programme design stage, choosing food commodities that do not need prolonged cooking, or sensitizing communities on techniques that shorten cooking time, such as soaking pulses in water the night before meal preparation.
Increase education on detrimental cooking fuel risks. Promote the use of environmentally friendly stoves and / or fuels.
Where perishable food items are offered, consider appropriate facilities to store these, such as watertight containers, coolers, and freezers. Heat, cold, and moisture influence the storage of perishable foods. Adequate mills and other grinding facilities must be available to assisted households and communities.
Storage areas should be dry and hygienic, adequately protected from weather, and free of chemical or other contamination. Refer to https://foodqualityandsafety.wfp.org/pest-management

Aim to compost food waste and try to source food locally where nutritional content is sufficient. In some areas, it may be possible to develop relationships with local agriculture for the removal of food waste from schools, to feed livestock. Work with the integration sector to see if this could be a useful input to agricultural livelihoods or to provide to farmers since this might also increase trust among communities.
Organic waste may also be used in low-cost biodigesters for energy production, which could be developed in coordination with the shelter and WASH sectors. If it is necessary to provide packaged food, source compostable packaging using natural materials, wooden cutlery, and avoid the use of Styrofoam and plastic.
Training people preparing food in the environmental impacts of different fuels sources and provision of more efficient stoves and fuel types. Training them in practice solid and organic waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and disposal / composting.

Lessons Learnt

Lessons from past experiences

Post distribution monitoring by a local NGO that had distributed LPG stoves in Nepal, after the 2015 earthquake, found that communities and households were continuing to cook over wood-fuelled stoves. Community members advised that this was because LPG stoves only take small pans which are not large enough to cook for large families or community groups. The NGO worked with local market producers to amend the stove design so they could accommodate larger pans. Subsequent monitoring visits demonstrated their use had significantly increased and women’s health had improved from reduced smoke inhalation.

Activity Measurement

Environmental indicators/monitoring examples

Number and types of food processing practices whose environmental impact has been assessed and addressed.
Food preparation and distribution points’ selection include environmental criteria and mitigation measures.

Priority

Activity Status

Medium

Main Focus

Focus of suggested activities

Prevention of environmental damage
Mitigation of environmental damage

Implications

Resource implications (physical assets, time, effort)

Requires close collaboration with livelihoods programming, ensuring a long-term joint vision.
Time is required to properly evaluate food processing, its impact on the environment, and sustainable/low-cost/adaptable solutions to cover needs.