How Does The Epidemic Affect Agricultural Production and Food Safety? (3): Can Food Banking be One of the Solution Models in Pandemic?

We talked about 'food banking' with the Basic Needs Association, (TIDER) Food Recovery Association (KTD) and social technology initiative Excess Food which operate in the field of food banking in Turkey. Three institutions, which foresee that the problems caused by the Covid-19 crisis in the supply chain will continue for a while in the food sector, share the views of the necessity of social solidarity in overcoming Coronavirus.

In the COVID-19 epidemic, we find it difficult to reach some products while we see that there is an excess supply in some products. Producers operating in the food industry have difficulties to meet their products with consumers under epidemic conditions. This increases the rate of conversion of food products into waste and causes financial losses due to waste products. But what was the situation before the epidemic?

In the pre-epidemic period, it was estimated that 821 million people living on the edge of hunger could be fed with 1.3 billion tons of food waste in the world, while the financial value of 26 million tons of food consumed in a year was estimated to be worth 214 billion liras (tahmin ediliyor). In the epidemic process, as Turkey also found it difficult to access food, the price of food products increased on the one hand and on the other hand the sectors that were most affected by the epidemic were again the low income group.

In these conditions created by the pandemic, can food banking which prevents waste in the food industry be seen as a solution to the problems in the food industry? What strategies do NGOs in the field of food banking in Turkey follow at the national level during Corona days? We sought answers to these questions within the framework of the activities carried out by the GKTD, TIDER and Excess Food initiative working in the field of food banking in Turkey.

At this point, let us remind you that there are no food banks in every city of Turkey, and that there had been a good example like Sarmaşık Association (Sarmaşık Derneği) which operated in the city where it is located and was shut down by a decree law in 2016 in Diyarbakır.

Food Rescue Association: Social Impact Center Model in Food Banking

One of the NGOs aiming to increase the capacity of food banking and contribute to the fight against poverty is the Food Rescue Association. Social Impact Center, which is an exemplary food banking model established by the Food Rescue Association (Gıda Kurtarma Derneği) which was established with the initiative of Excess Food (Fazla Gıda) administrators and which uses the donation system created by Excess Food as one of the solutions for excess food management, has extended its main points of donation to Ankara, İzmir, Lüleburgaz, Bursa, İstanbul (Asia / Europe), Çanakkale and Balıkesir provinces. On the other hand, the number of provinces where GKTD which has contracts with 73 food banks, carried out a food rescue operation is 34 and the number of districts is 53.

GKTD develops strong collaborations with the private sector and public institutions. GKTD, which conveyed a total of 17 thousand tons of aid with 14 thousand tons of food to 353 thousand needers, carries out joint activities with NGOs and municipalities engaged in food banking. GKTD, which has reached a donation amount of 28.760.000 TL by carrying out 24 thousand 286 donation operations (rescued and distributed) so far, aims to reach 1 million needers at the end of 2020.

In addition, GTKD, which created the first National Advocacy Guide to improve the advocacy capacity of NGOs working in the field of food banking in Turkey, prepared the first National Legislation Recommendations Report to prevent food waste and shared it with the relevant public institutions.

 “Food Waste is a Versatile, Multi-Component and a Multi-stakeholder Issue”

The President of GKTD Berat İnci whom we’ve talked about the applications they’ve realized during the COVID-19 process states that food waste is a versatile, multi-component and multi-stakeholder issue, and says that their main goals are to define the relationship of each individual with food waste, to point out the reason for stopping waste and to mobilize the masses for this; and this summarizes the Association’s strategy during the epidemic.

GKTD recently launched the Don’t Waste Campaign (Boşa Harcama Kampanyası ), one of the examples of a private sector-civil society cooperation. İnci gives the following answer to our question of what they target with the campaign: “Each stakeholder’s relationship with food waste is different. However, with this campaign we want to ensure social participation in the purpose of preventing food waste and start the change movement that would stop wasting. Don’t Waste Campaign provides life line to the culture of saving which is an important part of our nation’s value judgments, and makes people remember  about ‘responsible consumption’ in the language of the new world.”

Social Impact Center

In response to our question on what strategy have GKTD followed to combat COVID-19, Association President İnci emphasized that they are working in cooperation and in dialogue with all sectors. He answered our question of what the solution suggestion brought by GKTD to the problems in food supply during the pandemic is by mentioning the new concept called Social Impact Center which they developed to set a good example for Turkey Food Banking. He says that the Social Impact Center has prevented wastage and has provided 1.2 million TL worth of food donation support to those in need in Dilovası and in its immediate vicinity. In addition, he states that they have reached 125 thousand people in need together with other people in need in the region other than those who have a Social Impact Center card.

GKTD, which has started to deliver food aids to citizens who are over 65 years old and have a chronic disease and who cannot leave their houses, makes donations to many food banks in Turkey via the Excess Food platform. In addition, it aims to reach 50 thousand food packages from the beginning of Ramadan and 100 thousand food packages until the end of Ramadan.

Our Citizens Please Join Us With Responsible Consumption And Active Citizenship Roles.

According to İnci, people remembered that the most basic requirement was food, thanks to the epidemic. The fact that the consumers could not leave the house except compulsory situations, reduced redundant consumption. In this respect, the pandemic can be seen as an opportunity. On the other hand, the fact that serious amounts of products remaining unsold at the firms that were shut down and at the companies that produce for them triggering excess food is among the risks caused by the epidemic. At this point, the contribution of food banking to the solution of the problems in the food sector comes into play.

Finally, GKTD President Berat İnci emphasizes the importance of acting together to prevent food waste and says: “Let citizens be a part of the Food Rescue Association’s cooperation network of NGOs and public and private sector institutions. Our citizens please join us with responsible consumption and active citizenship roles.”

TİDER: Automat Food Banking

TIDER, operating in the field of food banking and advocating “a solution to a fairer food system and a food banking thesis”, established Food Banking Network in Turkey with the aim of setting up a food bank in every district and in all small cities. Currently, there are 47 Food Banks in 29 provinces under TIDER. TIDER prefers the Market format among the 3 types of food banking which consists of warehouses, markets and soup houses.

Having developed the Unmanned Food Banking model within the scope of the fight against the epidemic, TIDER is preparing to open the first automat food bank in Istanbul and aims to spread automat food banking throughout Turkey.

We asked TİDER General Manager Nil Tibukoğlu Yurdakul how the food banking system contributes to the fairness of Turkey’s food system and by which mechanisms. Stating that the primary role of a food bank is to collect food, market and textile products that will be wasted first and present them to the disadvantaged people, Yurdakul emphasizes that the food bank distributes market quality products to the beneficiaries.

On our question regarding the capacity of the food banking system to produce solutions to the problems in the food industry, Yurdakul says that one third of the total food produced in the world is wasted, and 821 million hungry people can be satisfied with the one fourth of this waste. Reminding that there are 26 million tons of food products that are wasted every year in Turkey, Yurdakul also points out that food banking provides reuse of textile and cleaning materials as well as preventing food waste. According to Yurdakul, food banking is an effective tool for the protection of the environment and climate by preventing carbon emissions along with the fight against poverty…

“Much Progress Has Been Made In Food Banking In Turkey, But The Legislation Is Insufficient”

Yurdakul, whose opinions we received on food banking legislation in Turkey determines that although there is a law regulating food banking, food banking is not given enough importance and that there is no work to promote it. Stating that the current law only provides tax relief to the product donors, Yurdakul lists the changes requested by TIDER as follows:

The law should cover the obligation of manufacturers and retailers to donate products that are likely to waste; Sending products to waste must include penal sanctions; Food banks should be granted incentives and “a law of good faith” should be enacted in order to prevent lawsuits for the donators of food banks…

In addition, Yurdakul says that the Food Banking Summit realized every year with the contributions of TIDER’s organization has contributed the progress and that the approach in Turkey towards food banking has changed accordingly. Yurdakul emphasizes that the interaction and ownership of citizens with food banks is an important factor in the success of food banking.

It Is Difficult To Talk About A Fair Food System During The Pandemic Period

TIDER General Manager Yurdakul gave the following response to our question about what strategy TIDER followed in the COVID-19 outbreak: 

“With the epidemic, access to food in Turkey has become difficult. As the products donated within the scope of the fight against waste were put up for sale, the donations have decreased. People’s stocking food caused a lot of domestic waste. With the difficulty of accessing food, the price of food products increased, and citizens with low income levels were affected the most. Therefore, it is not possible to talk about a fair food system.”

Due to the conditions created by the pandemic, TIDER started to purchase among basic necessity products with its own resources and with the supports it had received and reached 150 thousand families. In addition, TIDER, which developed the unmanned food banking model during the epidemic period, is preparing to open the first automat food bank in Istanbul. They foresee that approximately 1,500 families will benefit from the system they call Support Points. TIDER aims to spread automat food banks firstly in Istanbul, then all over Turkey.

Finally, TIDER General Manager Yurdakul says: “Our target for a food bank in every city is only possible if the citizens in that city accept this system. It is very important for citizens who have a food bank in their city to reclaim it.” 

Turning Excess Food Into Benefit During Corona Days

As a social benefit-oriented technology initiative that led to the establishment of GKTD which operates in the field of food banking, Excess Food initiative defines itself as “a technology platform that reintegrates inactive products to the economy, environment and society”. It makes discount sales and donations to those in need in order to turn the idle stock products of its global and national business partners which are formed for various reasons into maximum benefit; and it provides the utilization of foods that are not suitable for human consumption in the animal feed – livestock industry and recycling like biogas.

Excess Food (Fazla Gıda) has supported the establishment of nearly 80 food banks of different sizes in 35 provinces in 3 years thanks to its collaborations with public institutions and local governments, as well as with the wide network of NGOs such as Kızılay. Moreover, it supported the establishment of GKTD in 2017 in order to carry out awareness activities and advocacy activities in combating food waste and hunger.

We’ve talked to the CEO of Excess Food Olcay Silahlı, who thinks that the concept of “food gain” increased its importance during the Corona days. Silahlı says that the vast majority of the firms do not know how to recycle the products they have during the epidemic, and calls for “cooperation to turn excess idle foods into utility and spreading goodness together.”

The Importance of a Properly Designed Supply Chain and an Inventory Management System

Olcay Silahlı explains the question of why we have difficulties in reaching some products while there were “food companies that have recyclable products in hand due to the broken supply chain” during the COVID-19 outbreak as follows:

“We found out that there were food companies with recyclable products left due to the supply chain breaking during the epidemic process. One of the main pillars of this determination is our consumer habits. We know that consumer habits shape both the producers’ production plans and the purchasing companies’ purchasing plans over the years. This planning system which has been established over the years, will be affected by the rapidly developing pandemic process and will produce different results in the short and long term. One of the problems that can be experienced in this short and long term is the breaking of the supply chain and its possible consequences. We are currently observing its effects among the products with expiration dates in the short term. We observe that there is a surplus of production in many products whose expiration date is approaching, as people’s priorities have also changes during this period. Again, we can obtain insight about products with longer expiration dates in the longer term. Considering that all the estimations are made over a 10-15 years of consumer data that belonged to the period until the pandemic, we are working to turn the excess production that will be experienced until the compliance with the new order will be complete and the idle products that cannot be delivered to the consumer into benefit by using the digital food infrastructure of Excess Food.”

Explaining the strategy they followed in the fight against COVID-19, Silahlı draws attention to the power of the partner ecosystem that Excess Food has built since its foundation 3 years ago. Silahlı states that thanks to their existing collaborations they have begun to quickly recycle product surpluses in various fields during the outbreak including donations and animal feed modules. 

Olcay Silahlı expresses that Excess Food which carried out big donation operations with big brands during the pandemic period,also carried out communication activities that met the consumer on social media (sosyal medyada tüketici ile buluşan iletişim çalışmaları). In this way, both the awareness of the consumer on waste has been raised, and it has been shown how a supply chain and stock management system that has been built towards other big brands can have positive results for the country.

Answering the question of whether the pandemic will be an opportunity for ecological transformation, Silahlı thinks that the awareness they are trying to create among public and corporate brands is rapidly increasing and rapid results have been obtained. Saying that Excess Food aims to reduce waste-induced carbon emissions by a minimum of 50%, Silahlı says that they’ve prevented 5,000 tons of carbon emissions during the outbreak by their activities in the last 1 month. Therefore, according to Silahlı, ecological transformation will continue after the Corona days as well.