A t 7 a.m., Nairobi’s Giga Kitchen almost resembles an 18th-century factory in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. Giant steam-powered cookers c

The Huge, High-Tech, Low-Carbon Kitchens Feeding Young Kenyans

submited by
Style Pass
2024-11-26 06:30:03

A t 7 a.m., Nairobi’s Giga Kitchen almost resembles an 18th-century factory in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. Giant steam-powered cookers churn out great clouds of mist as troops of workers in dark overalls scurry around with shovels in hand.

But there are remarkably modern aspects to the 32,000-square-foot warehouse on the outskirts of Kenya’s capital city. The steam — produced by a pair of two-ton machines powered by “eco briquettes” of compressed sawdust — is channeled via a network of tubes linked to cookers filled with green lentils, mung beans, black-eyed peas, onions and more. Electric vehicles zip by with containers of the food, which are weighed and have their temperature recorded before being loaded onto trucks.

“We even sterilize the [used] cooking containers with steam,” says Carol Kinuthia, the 24-year-old manager of the Giga Kitchen, as a huge column of warm air wafts out from a rumbling cooker beside her. “Nothing goes to waste here.”

Leave a Comment