AYLİN ÖNEY TAN
Hand in hand with locals: Post-quake producer aid
After almost two months following the devastating earthquake, the need for help might be even more necessary for the people affected by the disaster, especially those who are producers. As we all know, nature dictates our lives, especially when working in the fields, vegetable gardens and fruit orchards, one has to obey the calendar of nature. The animal has to be milked, and milk cannot wait to be turned into cheese and yogurt. In the past two months, there have been desperate attempts to sell the products of quake-affected producers, such as the urgent call to pick and sell lemons, in fear that the trees won’t bloom for the next year if not picked. Then, another call was to sell the exquisite pale whitish orange-fleshed pumpkins, apparently stocked for the exquisite pumpkin sweet of the southern quake-hit province of Hatay, but as all the local sweet shops and restaurants were gone, there were no buyers. There were tons and tons of pumpkins to be sold, otherwise destined to rot. The network created to sell the pumpkins proved to be efficient, and soon not only chefs in Istanbul but also big market chains were putting in orders. Soon we started seeing lemons and pumpkins in our local corner market chains, proudly with a tag showing the origin. These attempts demonstrated that such immediate actions can create wonders for producers, but never enough, there have to be more sustainable ways to support the livelihood of all the food producers in need.
April 16 2023
