For those interested, I’d like to share the link to my article about the first event we organized last year: https://www.serhansuzer.com/tr/turkiyenin-ilk-gida-bankaciligi-zirvesi-ile-muhtesem-baslangic
A very comprehensive program on food banking was prepared for the 2nd Food Banking Summit. I’d like to thank our Chairwoman, Hande Tibuk, and all our professionals, especially our General Manager, Nil Hanım, for their dedicated efforts. Here’s the comprehensive program I mentioned: http://www.gidabankaciligizirvesi.org/tur/program
The 2nd Food Banking Summit began in such a joyous atmosphere.
In the opening session, Murat Sungur Bursa, President of the Sustainability Academy, took the first floor. He introduced the Sustainability Academy, which has accomplished significant work in this field, touched on its relationship with TİDER, and explained the relationship between sustainability and food banking.
TİDER’s history and innovation award
Then I took the floor. I briefly touched on TİDER’s history, noting that, as the umbrella organization for food banking in Turkey, it strives to ensure that this civil society work is carried out properly and to certain standards, and that it has undertaken significant work in collaboration with other NGOs. I emphasized that the NGO Disaster Coordination Platform, of which TİDER is a founder, has accomplished significant work in Elazığ.
After me, our board chair, Hande Tibuk, took the floor. Hande warmly summarized the Food Banking Summit and welcomed the participants.
The final speech in the opening session was delivered by M. Belma Satır, Chair of the Parliamentary Petitions Committee. She explained how the Petitions Committee got started, how they crossed paths with us, what they’ve done for food banking, and the resulting report. As she delivered her speech, I was reminded of the question Serhan Süzer posed to me during his first meeting at our Maltepe headquarters, “So, tell me, what is food banking?” Later, thankfully, she arranged for two public sector executives to attend the FBLI (Food Banking Leadership Institute) event in Houston in 2017, a gathering of food banking organizations from all over the world. At that event, we won the first-ever innovation award among eight finalists. It was a great honor for us and a significant achievement for Turkish NGOs. I hope that from now on, Ms. Belma, as a member of parliament who has accumulated significant know-how in food banking, will be able to distinguish between NGOs that do this work in the spirit of their work, that is, to genuinely benefit society, and fraudsters who try to make money by disguising themselves as NGOs.
From left to right: Dilara Koçak, our Member of Parliament Belma Satır, and TİDER Board Chairwoman Hande Tibuk
Experts from around the world
Then, we witnessed what I consider to be the highlight of the day. The session, titled “How is food banking done around the world?”, was moderated by Gabriela Reno, the Global Food Banking Network’s regional director, who had kindly come all the way from Chicago to discuss our situation.
Gabriela moderated the first panel of the day…
Participating remotely in this panel were: Lindsay Boswell, General Manager of Fareshare (UK), Nichol Ng, Director of Singapore Food Bank, and Natascha Hinsch, General Manager of Red Argentina (Argentine Food Bank).
While there were some initial technical glitches during this live Skype meeting, the meeting recovered quickly and proceeded smoothly. They provided us with invaluable information about food banking.
The question about ‘Coronavirus’ garnered the most attention
After their speeches, I asked each speaker questions about their topics. The most interesting question of the day was posed to Nichol, Director of Singapore Food Bank, about the coronavirus, a topic of discussion for everyone. I asked her how the coronavirus outbreak had affected Singapore and her own food banking operations. She answered my question as follows:
“This is a serious crisis. It has affected the entire country and region. In fact, it’s now spreading globally. We’re all working from home, and we’re not leaving unless it’s absolutely necessary. All markets and stores selling essential goods have been completely emptied out. Everyone is stocking up at home and, if possible, staying home. Of course, in such an environment, we can face difficulties in operating a food bank, which requires manpower. Professionals are relatively obligated to fulfill their duties, but we’re especially struggling to find volunteers.”
Crucial Topics
Gabriella asked all the participants another question, thanked them, and concluded the session. Our esteemed speakers then addressed crucial topics throughout the day. The topics covered were: The panels addressed the Development of Food Banking in Turkey, Preventing Food Waste, the Recovery and Recycling System in Turkey, Waste Perception and Awareness in Turkey, NGO Solidarity, and finally, the panel I moderated titled “Efforts Conducted as Part of the Project to Increase the Capacity of Food Banking in Turkey and the Views of Institutions Included in the TİDER Network.” Here are some photos from these panels:
Moderated by Hande Tibuk, the panel entitled The Development of Food Banking in Turkey featured remarks from Ahmet Volkan Güngören, Deputy Director General of the Directorate General for European Union and Foreign Relations at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; Hülya Çakır, Zero Waste Inventory and Education Branch Manager at the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization; and Mehmet Tarakcıoğlu, Senior Program Support Specialist at FAO Turkey.
These are also photos from our other important panels:
The final panel of the day featured Bülent Özcan, Acting Director General for Financial Cooperation and Project Implementation at the Directorate for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Zahit Tiryaki, Head of the Sakarya Branch of the Turkish Red Crescent; Fatma Kocaman, Deputy Mayor of Bursa Mustafakemalpaşa; and Rıdvan Öner, Supply Chain Manager of TİDER. As the last panel of the day, the room was somewhat emptied, and everyone was feeling a bit tired. Nevertheless, I believe we discussed some very important topics. I’d like to share Rıdvan’s presentation for a glimpse:
TİDER Supply Chain Manager Rıdvan Öner making a presentation
After the final remarks, we expressed our best wishes and concluded our panel. Finally, awards were presented to the top three companies that donated the most to the Food Bank, followed by plaques presented to the associations and food banks that are members of the TİDER network. Finally, we all cut a cake and took a group photo to celebrate TİDER’s 10th Anniversary.
In cutting TİDER’s 10th Anniversary cake, I wish you many more 10th Anniversary celebrations.
A group photo from us at the end of the event.
I’d also like to thank our sponsors for this wonderful event: Denizbank, Barilla, Cargill, CarrefourSA, Interaktif Çevre, Uludağ İçecek, Backup Reklam, and Coop Event. Thank you, thank you.
We’ll see you next year at the third Food Banking Summit, the first and only food banking event in Turkey, which is of critical importance in these challenging times.
Tag: social responsibility
