Stephen Kerr, Toronto, Canada

I’m reducing my oil use by cooking my food with solar energy.

Over the summer I started a company called Sun Baked, whose mission is to promote sustainable solar cooking in Canada. My solar cooking is chronicled and documented on my blog at cookingwithoutcarbon.blogspot.com and you can find my business online at www.solarcooking.ca. Sun Baked has adopted the Oil Depletion Protocol.

I started Sun Baked after years in the solar water heating business serving commercial and residential clients. My experience inspecting the mechanical systems of commercial buildings and homes brought me face to face with the real nature of the “progress trap” that is industrial, fossil fuel dependent urban society. Most of our built infrastructure will not survive peak oil, and the public is totally unprepared for the future.

We need to prepare a prosperous way down that addresses our most basic needs. Everyone has to eat, and a growing number are very concerned about the fossil energy content of their food. We should also be prepared to cook our food without fossil fuels, and the time to start is now.