Sustainable Gastronomy was discussed at Selçuk University

A talk on ‘Sustainable Gastronomy from Field to Table’ was organized by Selçuk University Beyşehir Ali Akkanat Faculty of Tourism. Former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Ayşe Ayşin Işıkgece, Slow Food Şile Bonito Association Founder Fatma Denizci and Researcher-Writer Engin Koban attended the online interview as speakers which was moderated by Selçuk University Beyşehir Ali Akkanat Faculty of Tourism Dean Prof. Dr. Abdullah Karaman. Selçuk University Beyşehir Ali Akkanat Faculty of Tourism Dean Prof. Dr. Abdullah Karaman said, “Gastronomy is one of today's popular concepts and a type of tourism that needs to be filled. We see that 50 percent of a vegetable produced in the field is wasted, food wasted or lost by the time it reaches our table. Besides sun, products such as our lakes and our waters are the common property of humanity.” Former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ayşe Ayşin Işıkgece, said: “We must keep the countryside alive. Rural development is extremely important. As long as our endemic diversity in the countryside continues, we can be sitting on wealth. It is possible to increase the rural population and ensure the continuation of the diversity of products thanks to the market created there, and to stimulate a serious gastronomy tourism with different tastes on many different plates in the hands of our creative gastronomy chefs.” Fatma Denizci, Founder of Slow Food Şile Bonito Association, said: “We want to find local seeds, protect them, share them with other people, produce and multiply them. As well as our culture and traditions, when seeds are lost, everything is gone. You cannot go towards the future either.” Stating that sustainability has 3 basic dimensions, Researcher-Writer Engin Koban said: “The first of these is ensuring economic sustainability and the other is ensuring socio-cultural sustainability. Another issue is environmental sustainability. It is not possible to separate them from each other. If we can gather these 3 basic approaches under one roof and build our strategy on this, we will be able to achieve a much better development. Gastronomy is not a concept that can be confined within the four walls of a restaurant or kitchen. What is important in sustainable gastronomy is good, clean and fair food.”