Once considered a status symbol, gas stoves have become a popular choice for amateur and professional chefs alike. More than a third of U.S. households cook with gas and 50 percent of single-family homes now feature gas stoves (up from thirty percent in the 1970s). Yet, when it comes to climate stability, air quality, and our health, gas stoves have serious impacts.

Cooking on a gas stove unleashes the same fumes found in car exhaust, and gas consumption in buildings is a significant contributor to climate change. But it is possible to cook dinner without cooking the planet. Sixty percent of U.S. households are already using electricity to cook and newer induction technologies are gaining popularity. Still, market and policy changes are needed to make electricity the preferred choice. On this episode of Electrify This!, host Sara Baldwin speaks with a pediatrician, a professional chef, and a real estate agent who discuss the perils of gas stoves and the pioneering movement to clean up our kitchens.

Guests:

• Dr. Lisa Patel is a pediatrician and an advocate for children’s health priorities. Among her many accomplishments, she was the co-chair for the American Academy of Pediatrics Advocacy Committee, California Chapter, co-founder the Climate and Health task force, and Director for the pediatric resident’s Community Pediatrics and Child Advocacy Rotation. Today is the Co-Director for Stanford’s Climate, Health, and Equity Task Force at the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research. She holds degrees from Stanford, Yale, and John Hopkins University.
• Chef Rachelle Boucher is a national cooking appliance trainer, private chef, influencer and event expert with over twenty years of experience. She has been a private chef for celebrities and athletes, a corporate chef, and a home appliance expert and consultant with Monark Home, Sub-Zero & Wolf, Miele U.S.A. Today, Rachelle is channeling her passion for electric cooking appliances and home electrification through her new venture “Kitchens to Life”, which is focused on bringing electric kitchens to the forefront and facilitating the adoption of kitchen electrification for performance, people and planet.
• Annie Trujillo is a real estate agent with Keller Williams Real Estate, based in Salt Lake City. In 2020 she was the third individual agent in her office and made the Top 500 Realtors in Utah list. Prior to becoming a real estate agent, Annie had an illustrious ten-year career working as a mountain guide, leading expeditions in remote areas from Greenland to Alaska and California. She holds a degree from San Francisco State University.

To Dig in Deeper, Check out these Must-Read Resources:

• Kitchens to Life
• Yale Appliance Induction Cooking Buying Guide
• Yale Appliance Electric Cooking Buying Guide
• Gas Stoves: Health and Air Quality Impacts and Solutions, RMI
• Why experts are sounding the alarm about the hidden dangers of gas stoves, Quartz
• We need to talk about your gas stove, your health and climate change, NPR
• A Pocket Guide to All-Electric Retrofits of Single-Family Homes, Redwood Energy
• Electrify Everything! A Practical Guide to Ditching Your Gas Meter, GreenTech Media
• All-Electric New Homes: A Win for Climate and the Economy, RMI
• How the Fossil Fuel Industry Convinced Americans to Love Gas Stoves, Mother Jones