Bendevi Palandoken, the President of the Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen, stated that food waste cannot still be avoided in Turkey despite all warnings and measures. Palandoken said that with the waste of food, the future of the country is also wasted.

Turkey wastes food worth 214 billion liras a year, said Bendevi Palandoken, President of the Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK). “Despite all the warnings made and measures are taken, food waste is going on in Turkey irrepressibly. It is not only 214 billion liras but also our efforts, wealth and future are all wasted. In order to end wasting food completely, we should launch awareness campaigns all over Turkey including schools and we should broadcast public service announcements,” Palandoken stressed. According to Palandoken, food waste is among the burning issues for Turkey and the world: “Studies show that every day 4.9 million loaves of bread are going to waste in Turkey. This means 1.7 billion loaves are wasted yearly. On the other hand, there are millions of people dying because of malnutrition in the world. Thanks to the campaigns of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, 384 million loaves of bread were saved from going to waste in a year and 2.8 billion liras were saved. And this means tens of schools, hospitals, bridges, and roads for our country. We should all give support to the fight against waste,” he said. Palandoken drew attention to the fact that hunger on earth will be ended if one-fourth of the food going to waste is saved according to the United Nations data and said, “More than 1.3 million tons of food which are wasted can feed nearly 2 billion people. Therefore, we should pay attention to avoid purchasing food more than our need.”