TURKISH AGRI.NEWS

Turkey threw away 214 billion Turkish liras (37.7 billion dollars) worth of food on an annual basis, according to the head of an anti-waste advocacy group. "The amount of food wasted in Turkey stands at 26 million tons," Aziz Akgül, chairman of the Turkey Waste Reduction Foundation told Anadolu Agency. Akgül said 25-40 percent of food produced in the country was either lost or wasted every year. "According to data from Turkey's Scientific and Technological Research Council (TÜBITAK), the amount of wasted fruits and vegetables is 12 million tons, worth 25 billion liras (4.4 billion dollars)," Akgül noted. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), one-third of all food produced globally is either lost or wasted, amounting to about 1.3 billion tons per year.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for Turks, and a weekend breakfast out is almost an exclusive event for many. You either opt for a few fixed dishes, all-you-can eat buffet or "serpme," a mix of specialties of a traditional Turkish breakfast. Serpme, which literally means "spreading," involves a wide variety of dishes spread on the table - often more than you can eat. It also causes more food waste, experts warn. Aziz Akgül, who heads the Turkish Foundation for Waste Reduction (TİSVA), says this breakfast "model" causes food waste totalling TL 100 billion every year - a significant figure that is enough to ring alarm bells when combined with wasting bread, another unfortunately popular type of waste in bread-loving Turkey. Akgül says serpme breakfasts evolved from a popular pastime into a culture of waste. Figures by TİSVA show Turkey wastes food worth TL 214 billion a year, or 12 million tons. Akgül says although Turkey is in the 65th spo...