24193: Leiderman: (reply) Re 24170, Re 24160: what to do with beans and charcoal (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Stuart M Leiderman <leidermn@cisunix.unh.edu>


Dear Readers:

I'm glad to see messages that clearly link forests to charcoal to beans.
All I can contribute at the moment are:

1) People who soak their beans overnight and then rinse and drain them
the next day find that the beans are quickly cooked and do not produce
gas (is there a Kreyol term for flatulence?).  This simple procedure also
greatly conserves cooking fuel, even more so when beans are cooked in a
tightly-covered pot or pressure cooker.  This brings it into the realm of
300-degree F solar cookers.  One way to settle this matter is to
popularize the time-honored "Chili Cook-Off" type of festival and see
who wins the prizes.

2) Charcoal may only recently have become a prevalent cooking fuel.  I
believe I have more than one historical research paper that describes big
storms in the 1950s over the Isle of Gonaves that blew down forests, after
which a couple of companies made charcoal from the dead trees and
introduced large quantities of it into Haiti cities.  This would be a
purely opportunistic introduction of charcoal, not really something that
developed slowly as a sustainable cultural attribute.  Charcoal dependency
may not have any survival value for Haitians unless it is accompanied by
completely reforesting the countryside.  This is a matter of urgent
national policy whenever Haiti's leaders want to come to their ecological
senses.  5 years?  10 years?  20 years?  ???  Other countries have done
it, Haiti can do it, too.  I am always ready to lend a hand.

Thank you,

Stuart Leiderman
Environmental Response
leidermn@christa.unh.edu