Safe Food Education Will Be Provided to 7 Thousand Students in Bursa

“WE AIM TO INCREASE AWARENESS ABOUT SAFE FOOD”
BTSO Board Member Hakan Batmaz said that educational activities that will raise awareness about safe food, healthy nutrition and waste are important. Stating that tons of food are wasted every year in Turkey and around the world, Batmaz said, “According to the data of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, approximately 4,5 billion tons of the 1,3 billion tons of food produced in the world is wasted as loss and waste. In fact, only 3/1 of the food wasted in the world today is sufficient to feed all the hungry people in the world. In Turkey, 18,1 million tons of food is wasted every year, and unfortunately 4,9 million pieces of bread are thrown away every day. We need to increase the level of awareness on this issue. As BTSO, we launched our Safe Food project in order to draw attention to the importance of safe food consumption, reduce food waste and raise awareness in the society about healthy nutrition. “With this project, which we organized for the first time in 2015 with the intense work of our professional committees and the valuable contributions of our public institutions, we have provided training to tens of thousands of students in hundreds of schools in Bursa.” said.
Stating that they will organize trainings for 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades in schools with the project organized for the 9th time this year, Batmaz said, “We aim to reach 50 thousand students in 7 schools with these trainings that we will carry out with the contributions of our project stakeholders. “I would like to express my gratitude to all institutions and organizations that contributed, especially our parliament and committee members.” he said.

“FOOD SAFETY IS VITALLY IMPORTANT”
BTSO Food and Packaged Products Council President Burhan Sayılgan emphasized that healthy food production, consumption and food safety are vital for the future of humankind. Pointing out that especially nutritional habits directly affect human health, Sayılgan said, "While hunger is being fought in one part of the world, in another part of the world, it is being debated which diet is healthier and the problems caused by unhealthy eating patterns are being fought. Today, in many countries, the incidence of obesity and the diseases it brings, such as diabetes, are increasing. We need training and information activities that will increase the awareness of children and young people in particular on these issues. We aim to contribute to answering questions on this subject with the project we have initiated. We believe that our project will be extremely beneficial in terms of both public health and increasing awareness about food and nutrition.” he said.

“HEALTHY NUTRITION OF OUR YOUTH IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR OUR FUTURE”
Bursa Provincial Director of National Education Dr. Ahmet Alireisoğlu said that the project implemented under the leadership of BTSO is very valuable. Alireisoğlu said, “The safety of the food we consume is very important for our health. Some foods that seem delicious to us actually damage our structure by destroying our structure and consume us. These foods emerge as a disease, a disorder, years later. The physical health of our young people, who are our future and future, is very valuable both for us and for our country. On the other hand, we must show the same sensitivity towards waste. We need institutional work and support to progress on this issue with our 750 thousand students and parents in Bursa. We will organize trainings on this subject under the leadership of BTSO and with the contributions of many public institutions. We plan to reach approximately 50 thousand students in 7 schools with these trainings. “We also attach importance to disseminating this throughout the country.” he said.

“AWARENESS LEVEL ABOUT FOOD WASTE WILL INCREASE”
Stating that they continue to work to reduce food waste, Bursa Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Acar said, “One in every nine people in the world suffers from hunger. Raising awareness among our young people is very important in terms of food waste. I would like to thank BTSO for its work on this issue. I hope that we will increase awareness about food waste, starting with our youth. It makes us proud to contribute even a small amount to people suffering from hunger. “I would like to thank all the officials who contributed to the organization and the young people who participated.” said.

THANKS TO BTSO
Bursa Provincial Health Directorate Deputy Head of Public Health Services Dr. Yunuzu Arslan said that Bursa has a strong infrastructure in the field of health services. Pointing out that one of the easiest ways to prevent diseases is healthy nutrition, Arslan thanked BTSO for leading the project in this context.
Following the opening speeches, the first training was given by Bursa Provincial Health Directorate Dietician Canan Tanrıöver. At the end of the training, cardboard rulers with the QR code of the information booklet prepared within the scope of the project were presented to the students.

EDUCATION WILL BE PROVIDED TO 50 THOUSAND STUDENTS IN 7 SCHOOLS
The stakeholders of the project, which was first organized in 2015, include Bursa Provincial Directorate of National Education, Bursa Uludağ University, Bursa Technical University, Provincial Health Directorate, Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, Food and Feed Control Center Research Institute and TMMOB Chamber of Food Engineers Bursa Branch. In project scope; Awareness programs will be held for students on safe food, being a conscious consumer, personal hygiene and food hygiene, adequate and balanced nutrition and obesity. Additionally, a Painting Competition with the theme "Let's Consume Safe Food" and "Let's Eat Healthy - Prevent Waste" will be held.