Popular Turkish chef exposes food waste in urban dumpsters

ISTANBUL

In pursuit of exposing the stark reality of food waste, popular food writer and chef Refika Birgül took to the garbage dumps of her very own neighborhood of Kuzguncuk in Istanbul.

Delving into the waste, she saw a distressing sight: An array of food, from arugula to quince, still in edible condition cast aside.

In a conversation with daily Milliyet, Birgül cited alarming statistics about food waste. According to figures from Fazla Gıda, a staggering 50 percent of fruits and vegetables are wasted on the way from field to counter. Of the remaining half that makes it into household refrigerators, another half is thrown away.

"In other words, we consume only 24.5 percent of a vegetable from the field; 75 percent of it is wasted," she stated.

Driven to verify these statistics on her YouTube channel named Refika’s Kitchen, Birgül combed through discarded arugula with the most nutrient-rich portions thrown away.

She pointed to the volume of perfectly good vegetables, such as onions, potatoes and tomatoes, needlessly discarded due to peeling blunders.

Birgül stressed the urgent need for heightened awareness surrounding food waste and implored restaurants to adopt innovative strategies to minimize waste.

"Restaurants can measure how much waste the food turns into at what stage at the restaurant with their smart scales. In this way, they can enable the restaurant to shop differently."

She also urged municipalities and supermarket chains to play a proactive role in combatting food waste, whether through donation initiatives or sustainable packaging practices.

According to a United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report, Türkiye ranks 15th among 214 countries in food waste. The research conducted in 2020 reveals that household food waste in the country is an estimated 7.76 million tons per year, corresponding to 93 kilograms per person per year.