Research

In our world, over 3 million people have had their arm amputated. The most common arm amputation is below the elbow; in fact, 59% of arm amputees have lost their arm up to this point. In the United States, only 50% of arm amputees use a prosthetic, and of these, only 50% use their prosthetic regularly. The percent of people with access to prosthetic arms drops dramatically in developing countries. Unfortunately, 80% of all arm amputees live in developing countries.

Arm amputations are only a portion of the amount of people who can only use one arm. There is a surprising amount of people with medical conditions, such as suffering from a stroke, that limits mobility and functionality in one of their arms. There are also people who deal with being one-handed temporarily, such as an injury or carrying an infant. No matter what the case is, one thing is clear—it is not easy to perform everyday tasks with only one functioning arm, specifically culinary tasks.

Kitchen accidents and injuries are fairly common, and can adversely affect those carrying out culinary tasks with only one hand. Knives, and other forms of kitchen cutlery, caused over 350,000 injuries in one year. While this number represents every injury reported, for those with only one-hand this type of injury is more likely since one-handed individuals have no choice but to cut food close to their bodies, which creates a further hazard. Shattering cookware is another hazard for one-handed chefs. The causation is due to overheated cookware, and or improper usage of cookware. This is a danger for one-handed individuals who try to simplify the culinary tasks by misusing existing products.

Be it that we live in the 21st century, cooking with one hand has become less of a daunting task. However, there are still struggles that those with one hand battle each day. One woman with an amputated arm said that learning to stir, crack an egg, and cutting were the hardest tasks to master. Stirring and cutting are difficult since there is not an additional arm to stabilize the food or bowl. Cracking an egg is difficult because you have to avoid fully crushing the egg and getting shell in the food. Additional tasks, such as opening any type of bag, can, or jar are also said to be difficult for one-handed individuals.

Research already exists to help discover cooking techniques for individuals with one-hand. There are many best practices for one-handed individuals. One technique for food preparation is to use a comfortable surface height. Another technique is to wear an apron to hold utensils close by at all times. When it comes to cooking, heavy pans are recommended so that they don’t move around on the burners while stirring. Another stirring technique is to push a mixing bowl into a corner so that the bowl doesn’t move around. The microwave is endorsed as the safest method for heating food; however, not all recipes can be microwaved.

While techniques for culinary tasks are helpful, society has pushed for companies to invent adaptive equipment to make it easier for one-handed individuals to thrive in the kitchen. Holders, non slip mats, cutting equipment, openers and specialized dinnerware are all on the market for people with disabilities. The problem is that these specialized products are rather expensive. A more accessible option is to buy products that make the overall cooking experience simplified for everyone. These products, such as electric can-openers and vegetable peelers can be found on amazon and cooking stores.

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