Wide Boundary Aspects of Solar Thermal Cooking

This Q&A Panel Discussion webinar, hosted by global solar thermal cooking expert, Luther Krueger, will explore wide boundary aspects of solar thermal cooking.

The nexus, intersections and synergy between food, cooking, culture, connection, health and wellbeing, simplicity, sustainability, ecology, spirituality, indigenous perspectives and wisdom will be unpacked through presentations and an audience Q&A session.

The panelists bring a diverse range of experience and expertise to this discussion and include:

• Ann Aisatullin (United Religions Initiative, Religions for Peace)

• Randy Harwood (Solar Oven Partners, a ministry of the United Methodist Church Dakotas Conference)

• Debra Yazzie (Solar Oven Partners, Four Corners Native American Ministry, University of Colorado)

• John Lochowiak (Councillor, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council)

BIOS:

LUTHER KRUEGER

Luther has been collecting and promoting solar thermal cookers and this method of cooking for over two decades, building a museum and a growing international network in the process, one outcome being this Inaugural Earthwide festival and conference. Passionate in his belief that the Sun provides the purest, cleanest energy source available, he highlights benefits such as halting deforestation, the pasteurization of unsafe drinking water and reducing our fossil fuel dependance. His other community work has included university teaching of public and non-profit administration, and community liaison and project work with the Minneapolis Police Department.

ANN AISATULLIN

Ann is passionate about inclusion, equity, diversity, multiculturalism and climate action. She is actively involved in several inter and multi faith organizations, including the United Religions Initiative, Religions for Peace, the Multifaith Association of South Australia and the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change; she is also a member of the Jewish community. As a former kindergarten teacher, she has worked in various interfaith and multicultural environments including in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in the far north of South Australia. Ann is also an Emergency and Disaster Chaplain with the South Australian Government.

RANDY HARWOOD

In 2024, Randy was recruited as the director of Solar Oven Partners (SOP), a mission ministry of the Dakotas Conference of the United Methodist Church. For over 20 years, SOP has distributed over 12,500 ovens to families who helped build and learn to use them in the Dominican Republic, Sierra Leone, and the Navajo Nation in Arizona and New Mexico. Randy also serves as a United Methodist pastor in Casselton, ND. Prior to these positions, he has worked as a recruiter, educator and skills builder - jobs which have drawn on his ability to connect with and motivate people of diverse backgrounds, experiences and geographic locations. His promotion of solar thermal cooking highlights the spiritual, environmental, health and cost-effectiveness benefits.

JOHN LOCHOWIAK

John is a Wadi (initiated Man) and a highly respected South Australian Aboriginal Elder who has strong ties to many language groups throughout Australia including, but not limited to, Pitjantjatjara, Kaurna, Ramindjeri and Arerrnte. His strong cultural grounding is complemented by his deep Catholic faith. As a community leader, cultural educator, speaker, and pastoral leader, John is widely recognized for fostering reconciliation, cultural understanding and spiritual renewal amongst and between First Nations peoples, the Church, and the wider Australian community through faith, dialogue, and service. For more than 30 years, John has served in Aboriginal Catholic Ministry and he has also provided national leadership as Chair of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC). He currently serves as National Cultural Advisor with Calvary Health Care South Australia. In 2019, John travelled to Rome as part of the Australian delegation attending a gathering with Pope Francis, sharing the stories, faith, and experiences of First Nations peoples with the universal Church.

This Panel discussion is a contributor to the 2026 Earthwide Solar Cooking Festival and Conference (Sept 12-30).