World Food Day, 16 October, 2019

We wish you a happy World Food Day!

October 16 World Food Day is a day of action dedicated to achieve zero hunger in honor of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This year, World Food Day will be celebrated with the theme of “Healthy Diets for a Zero Hunger World” to raise consumers’ awareness.

From the Industrial Revolution to the present day, we have dramatically changed our diets and eating habits as a result of urbanization, population growth, and globalization. We have moved from seasonal, locally-produced, mainly plant-based and fibre-rich dishes to diets that are high in refined starches, sugar, fats, salt, processed foods, meat and other animal-source products.  Especially in urban areas, less time is spent preparing meals at home, traditional cooking techniques are slowly being abondoned, and we increasingly rely on fast food to meet our nutritional needs. A combination of unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles is the most important factor that sends obesity rates soaring. According to the FAO report  (http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/theme/en/), now over 670 million adults and 120 million girls and boys (5-19 years) are obese, and over 820 million people suffer from hunger. Adopting and promoting healthy and balanced eating models will be the most effective method in the fight against obesity and hunger. Having each stakeholder adopt conscious production and consumption models in the journey from soil to plate, endeavoring to maintain biodiversity which rapidly changes and decreases due to climate change, promoting the production and consumption of locally-produced, plant and grain-based foods, and encouraging traditional food preparation and cooking habits are some of the steps that can be taken to win this fight.

Our Undergraduate Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Program is curated to provide our students with a multi-dimensional view of the adventure of food from earth to plate from the perspectives of agriculture, economy, nutrition and food sciences, cultural heritage, humanities, culinary arts, business administration, tourism, and service sector. Vested with this robust, multi-disciplinary education, our students step into the sector as well-educated graduates who recognize and appreciate the important role of healthy and balanced diets in the fight for a zero hunger world.

Food serves as a vast roof that shelters many stakeholders underneath, and it is our mutual responsibility to manage, distribute, and consume the limited global food supply in the best way possible. To this end, we wish all conscious consumers, in particular our students, a happy World Food Day, and highlight once again that sustainable and healthy food is a fundamental need.

Associate Prof. Özge Samancı
Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Department Head
School of Applied Sciences