Bbm Magazine 68 Eylül - September 2023

BBM • SEPTEMBER - EYLÜL 2023 52 INTERVIEW • RÖPORTAJ times. What message will you send to the world from this summit? As the Turkish Food & Beverages Industry Employers As- sociation (TÜGİS), we represent the food industry in Turkey and carry out collective work on food, the basic need of ev- eryone. In this scope, we started 18 years ago by organizing the Food Conference on World Food Day. For 9 years, we have been organizing the Sustainable Food Summit together with the Sustainability Academy, which has carried out many invaluable studies in this field. We see that in times of pan- demics, economic crises, wars and all other similar periods; every stage of food production from the field to the table is very critical. For this reason, the issue of sustainability must be addressed with a holistic approach in the field of food. We have been organizing our summit for 9 years with the aim of bringing together stakeholders in the food sector to address the issues on the agenda and develop new solutions. Our or- ganization is supported by the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the United Nations Agriculture Organization. Since its first year, the main goal and message of the Sus- tainable Food Summit has been focusing on finding solu- tions. Hence, our message to the world will be to emphasize the importance of developing solution approaches to that problem as much as identifying food needs and concerns. The Food Summit is becoming more important with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). What can you say about the main theme of this year’s summit being about Water? For years, the Sustainable Food Summit has been orga- nized with the support of the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and FAO, United Nations’ the Food and Ag- riculture Organization. It is very valuable to have the sup- port of stakeholders at the highest level, so we would like to thank them once again. As we, TÜGİS, have underlined before, drought is the most pressing issue and will remain on the agenda for some time to come. This year, drought continues to be a major issue in our country. The reservoirs’ fill levels have fallen to critical levels, and in this context, the importance of wa- ter becomes evident. After the tragic earthquake disaster earlier this year, we realized the vital importance of water support for our people. Therefore, we have set water, the most important agenda of this year, as the main theme. We are working to express stakeholder views and develop so- lutions to the problems in this field. Youwill bring together all stakeholders of the sector at the Sustainable Food Summit to discuss the future of food. One of the topics that are currently concerning the world is food inflation. Could you share your views on this issue with us? nuz. Bu zirveden Türkiye özelinden dünyaya nasıl bir mesaj vereceksiniz? Türkiye Gıda Sanayii İşverenleri Sendikası (TÜGİS) ola- rak Türkiye’deki gıda sanayini temsil etmekle birlikte, her- kesin temel ihtiyacı olan gıda konusunda kolektif çalışma- lar yürütüyoruz. Bu kapsamda 18 sene önce Dünya Gıda Günü’nde Gıda Konferansı’nı düzenleyerek yola çıktık. 9 senedir, bu alanda pek çok değerli çalışmaya imza atmış Sürdürülebilirlik Akademisi ile birlikte Sürdürülebilir Gıda Zirvesi’ni düzenliyoruz. Pandemi, ekonomik kriz, savaş ve benzeri tüm dönemlerde görüyoruz ki; gıdanın üretimin- den tedarikine, tarladan sofraya ulaştığı ana dek, gıda üretiminin her aşaması oldukça kritik bir şekilde gerçek- leşiyor. Bu nedenle sürdürülebilirlik konusu, gıda alanında bütünsel bir yaklaşımla ele alınmak durumunda. Zirvemizi 9 yıldır, gıda sektöründeki paydaşların bir araya gelerek gündemdeki konuları ele almaları ve çözüm geliştirmele- rini sağlama hedefiyle düzenliyoruz. Organizasyonumuzu T.C. Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı ile Birleşmiş Milletler Tarım Örgütü de destekliyor.