Buzzword: Sustainability

The concept of sustainability appears everywhere. Sustainability seems to be the buzzword that solves every problem in every single field. But what exactly is sustainability? How can it be achieved? My discovery of the buzzword dates back to exactly 22 years ago. When I became the director of the Turkey Cultural Heritage Project run by the World Bank, the first concept I met, the first magic word I discovered was “sustainability,” a term that seemed to open every door. So much so that, when I sprinkled a few handfuls of “sustainability” and similar words such as “diversity,” into project reports, everything seemed to work out. But when it came to how sustainability could be achieved in real life, the challenge began. Endless pages and pages of economic and social assessment reports were prepared, environmental and cultural issues scrutinized, days and weeks of fieldwork were conducted, and of course last but not least innumerable stakeholder meetings were held, again with pages and pages of minutes of meetings written. Soon I started to feel that all those procedures were like the act of being sustainable in their own right, and among our colleagues in PMU, Project Management Unit, the buzzword became like a joke-word, we often repeated: “Sustainability is all about never-ending World Bank meetings, they are truly sustainable, they seem to go on and on!”

Of course, the sustainability problem in the field of conservation of cultural heritage is extremely complicated, but when I moved to the world of gastronomy later in life, the magic word almost chased after me. Today, everyone is talking about sustainability in the food world. The buzz starts in the kitchen and extends to the environment and climate change. Infinite topics come under the umbrella of sustainability in relation to food. Locavorism, eating seasonally, zero waste, carbon footprint, recycling, preventing squandering, care for the environment, energy-saving, water management and good agricultural practices are concepts we tackle every single day constantly. And of course, there are health concerns, but it is not easy to decide on what exactly is a healthy and balanced diet, there are new approaches we are bombarded with every new day. We are also talking about the sustainability of foodways, local cuisines and so on, safeguarding heirloom seeds, indigenous fruits, vegetables, grains and animal breeds are more important than ever. Not a day goes by that the topic of sustainability does not pass in the meetings on gastronomy.

Last week was such a week. Two big meetings in Istanbul last week focused on this issue. Sustainability in the kitchen was the topic discussed at the Turkish Cuisine 2.0 panels as part of Restaurant Week. It was also the core of many presentations at the third Global Gastro-Economy Summit. Apart from exciting projects and research conducted by various parties, at the end of the day, the focus came to learning from past practices, not the recent past, but rather a distant past, the good old days when the world was at a slower pace, and everything was in more harmony with nature, the seasons dominated what we ate, our geography determined our cuisine and our diet was considerably healthier.

It seems that in order to build the future, there is no other choice but to look to the past and cling to the values of the past. For the sustainability of our local cuisines, safeguarding artisanal local produce, indigenous varieties of fruits, especially of grapes in winemaking, vegetables, pulses, grains, and animal breeds are of the utmost importance. When the ingredients are changed, we can no longer have the same tastes and maintain authenticity. This is valid for every country’s cuisine, or regional cuisines, sustainability of local ingredients is of primary importance for the preservation of flavor. In addition, it is of great importance to record local recipes and food culture through field studies and oral history recordings. In the past, the knowledge of cooking was passed from mother to daughter, from master to apprentice, but with the accelerated urban pace of life, many food traditions go to oblivion. In this context, recording whatever we can, everything we can learn from the past can be key to a better future. Because it is not only about putting a tasty dish on the table, but also about the old preservation and conservation methods that we need to remember. Foraging became big, when Nordic cuisine brought it to the attention of the world, but we were always foraging, it was an inbuilt knowledge of Anatolian culture in Turkey. Methods of preservation such as pickling, brining, curing, drying and potting are far more sustainable and energy saving than refrigerating and freezing. We need to look at the past, learn from the past, and bring the past to our kitchens for a sustainable future. In short, if sustainability defines a long-term goal, it might well be defined as back to the future!