Istanbul Seed Exchange Festival, KadıköyPerformed in

Kadıköy The “5. Istanbul Seed Exchange Festival” Alan Kadıköy It was held in the Park. The opening speech of the festival Kadıköy Mayor Şerdil Dara Odabaşı said, “The state does not support the farmer when they use heirloom seeds. It says you need to buy certified seeds. The farmer cannot use ancestral seeds to receive support. Certified seeds are also genetically modified seeds. We are experiencing serious problems both economically and in terms of draining the country's resources.

Kadıköy The “5. Istanbul Seed Exchange Festival” Alan Kadıköy It was held in the Park. Nearly 30 producers and cooperatives opened stands at the festival, where parsley, cress, arugula, purslane, cucumber, red kidney bean, dill and chard seeds were presented to the visitors. In the festival, where local products grown in natural and ecological conditions were also introduced, many booths such as Nota Bene Publications, Yeni Insan Publishing House, Validebağ Defense took place. Kadıköy Mayor Şerdil Dara Odabaşı, while visiting the festival area, toured the stands.

A panel titled “Let's Protect Our Ancestry Seeds” was also held at the festival. The speakers of the panel moderated by Ayla Tokmak from Earth Association were producer Vicdan Karabudak, Necla Sarı and journalist and writer Gürkan Akgüneş.

ODABAŞI: GOVERNMENT DOES NOT SUPPORT ATALIK SEEDS

Panel keynote speaker Kadıköy Mayor Serdil Dara Odabaşı said:

“The state does not support the farmer when he uses ancestral seeds. It says you need to buy certified seeds. The farmer cannot use ancestral seeds to receive support. Certified seeds are also genetically modified seeds. In order to receive the support given by the state, it has to buy genetically modified seeds. We are experiencing serious problems both economically and in terms of draining the country's resources.”

“WE ARE TRYING TO BRING YOU TOGETHER WITH THE SEEDS WE FORGOTTEN”

“In the past, the seed was called by the name of the geography where it was grown. Now the seeds are named with letters and numbers,” said Odabaşı, adding, “The taste of the bread that we call natural and that we eat all the time has changed. We call it gluten-free product. 50 years ago no one knew this. She was eating that bread and was not gluten free. Now we make bread with genetically modified seed and eat it. We also take medicine to prevent gluten. Seeds grown thousands of years ago do not exist now. First, we killed the soil with the wrong farming methods. Second, we searched for different seeds in order to get products from the soil. Worst of all, the political power encourages it. We are trying to bring you together with the seeds we forgot here. We are off the ground. For that reason Kadıköy As the municipality, we have opened and are opening a small orchard. Because children know that strawberries grow on trees. We need to tell our children,” he said.

YELLOW: WE SET ON THE WAY FOR OUR GIRL, FOUNDED A COOPERATIVE

Necla Sarı, who is a nurse at Dilovası State Hospital and lives and works in İzmit Dağ Village, said, “Our daughter was two and a half years old and she was constantly getting sick. We were having a hard time finding healthy food for him. That's why we wanted to leave Istanbul in 2016 and settle in the countryside, she. This is how our story began. After settling in the countryside, our daughter Ida never got sick. We started to plant to eat healthy. Then our friends also asked for she. We started to produce for them as well. Then we established a cooperative now. Now we are on the way to feed Izmit," he said.

KARABUDAK: IDENTIFY THE NEAREST MANUFACTURERS

Conscience Karabudak, known as the "Mother of Conscience", said:

“I settled in the village 20 years ago. I wish I had settled down 30 years ago. We have a garden, we sow, we mow. We enjoy doing what we know is right. We are all concerned about soil and seeds. If our soil is not good, there will be no seeds. We are deserting and killing our soil. We have festivals to protect our seeds. People with high awareness are organizing. We have to support the platforms. Local vegetables are more nutritious. Identify the manufacturers closest to you. You both eat healthy and support the producer.”

AKGÜNEŞ: THE BASIS OF FOOD INDEPENDENCE IS THE SEED

Journalist and writer Gürkan Akgüneş said, "We are talking about a product that has become a commodity in the global market in the last 50 years," and added, "We are faced with hybrid seeds in most of the products we buy from the market and the market. A seed produced in a lab. The basis of food independence is the seed. Without seeds, there would be no food that we can pass on to future generations. Local seeds mean that the vegetables that people have grown for centuries are replanted and yielded. This seed is nobody's property. We tend to choose the brightest, most iridescent from the grocery stores. We need to change this consciousness,” he said.