Quiet appliances are part of a wellness kitchen

by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition

Photo credit: Jean van der Meulen

The New York Times recently published an article* about wellness kitchens, a design update to the standard kitchens dating from the 1950s post-war building boom, and really well before that. The article notes that older kitchens were designed for an era when fresh food wasn’t generally available in the winter, and canned and processed food were the kitchen staples. 

That was certainly true when I was a boy, with my mother often opening a can of peas or green beans. Frozen food was a novelty, and she sometimes used frozen vegetables. There weren’t many fresh vegetables available in the winter except for root vegetables.

Things have changed. As the Times succinctly reports, “It’s farewell to the pantry with shelf-stabilized foods and hail to the composter.”  A 2018 report from the Global Wellness Summit discusses the basic ideas covered in the story. The idea of a wellness kitchen, including features like an indoor herb garden, are “first world” ideas with features and space requirements well beyond what even relatively wealthy people can afford. Certainly some of the ideas can be adopted or adapted by many, though.

For those of us interested in noise, one sentence caught our attention: “For example, a high-tech gadget they recommend for coaxing kitchen gardens to grow by bathing them in magenta light and soft music is not strictly necessary. Neither are the hushed appliances they endorse for reducing noise pollution.”

Buying quieter appliances is something everyone can do. The best example is the dishwasher. Despite federal requirements for noise testing and labeling abandoned during the Reagan Era, quieter dishwashers are available thanks to the forces of the marketplace. After German appliance manufacturers stole market share by offering quieter dishwashers, other manufacturers followed. A walk down the dishwasher aisle in an appliance store shows the decibel ratings proudly displayed on each machine. Only a few years ago we had to close the door between the kitchen and the family room when using the dishwasher because the noise bothered us. When we had to replace the dishwasher, we got a quieter one. We no longer have to close the door.

Few may have the space to build a wellness kitchen, or be able to afford a complete kitchen remodel to install a wellness kitchen, but anyone buying a new appliance can make certain it’s a quieter one. Noise information is readily available online, and we encourage everyone to buy quieter appliances.

A quieter home kitchen, as part of a quieter world, will be better and healthier for all.

*We usually avoid writing about articles behind paywalls, but occasionally make exceptions as in this case.