The Open Source Approach to Feeding the Hungry

by Lisa Hoover - May. 25, 2010Comments (0)

It's always great to see open source principles applied to helping under-developed countries or nations in crisis. We've already talked about washing machines with an open design and software created to help reunite families after large-scale emergencies. Now a Florida-based engineer has come up with an open source design to help feed the hungry.

Daniel Christadoss has an ambitious goal "to create a open source modular design which can be shipped on demand to feed the hungry in times of economic and natural disasters." His vision is for a portable 20- or 40-foot container uses solar power (or another readily-available power source) to cook rice, beans, lentils, curry, and other nutritional food for 100 people or more.

Christadoss says the final Rice & Curry Factory design would include these components:

Prepare rice, curry, or easily manufactured food
In modular form to be able to fit into a 20 or 40 foot container
Options for solar steam cooking as well as easily available fuel sources
Shippable by truck, train or ship to remote areas
Use Complete-off-the-Shelf-Components (COTS)
Open source design
Nutritional requirements specified for a balanced food pyramid using rice, lentils etc.

To get further details, help with crowdsourcing ideas, or to join the team as they start designing the portable cookers, have a look at the project's page on the Wenovski Design Thinker's Network.

Image courtesy of star5112.