Press Release

FAO celebrates Children’s Day in Turkey by releasing educational material to reduce food waste!

23 April 2021

23/04/2021Ankara, Turkey– Consumer behaviour is still one of the underlying drivers of food waste globally, making it imperative to shift social norms and consumer attitudes. The education of future generation of consumers plays a critical role in this change.

To help make this change, FAO and the International Food Waste Coalition (IFWC) have developed the “Do Good: Save Food!” series. These teaching manuals are designed to educate children about the negative impacts of wasting food and help them to change their everyday habits. The manuals are available in multiple languages, with today marking the release of the Turkish version of one guide targeted at children aged 10 to 13 years old.

FAO collaborates with several partners as part of the SAVE YOUR FOOD campaign to inform and educate young consumers about actions they can take and good habits they can develop and introduce to their friends, families and communities to reduce food waste.

The “Do Good: Save Food!” teaching manuals will be distributed by the Sabri Ülker Foundation and the Directorate General of Basic Education in order to reach 6 million students and teachers in 20 cities across Turkey. An educational programme on food waste reduction for children will also form part of the Sabri Ülker Foundation’s “Balanced Nutrition Education Project”. The Sabri Ülker Research Foundation for food literacy will translate manuals for children aged 5 to 13 years old.

In cooperation with Migros, FAO is sharing messages and tips to fight food waste with young consumers. “Growing healthy with Migros” is one such project that aims to further strengthen awareness among children about healthy and good living.

Since 2016, the project has reached over 176 000 children in 71 provinces via small gatherings at Migros stores.

The messages and tips have also been transformed into an animated video to be shown on Migros TV for Children’s Day. In addition to fostering healthy nutrition habits, the video covers topics such as the control processes food products pass through before reaching shelves and understanding food labels correctly.

CANO, the food saver

Last year, SAVE YOUR FOOD campaign released a series of animated videos designed to educate young food savers about the environmental impacts of food loss and waste and new habits they can adopt to help prevent and reduce this problem.

In the videos the campaign’s mascot, CANO, tells children in a simple, yet engaging way, about the resources used in producing food and their journey from farm to table. CANO also teaches children about simple habits that can save food, such as buying only what you need or storing leftovers appropriately.

To watch the CANO videos, please visit Migros TV and the Gıdanı Koru website.

LINKS

FAO and Sabri Ülker Foundation to help children cut food waste at home and reassert the value of food

Food loss and waste reduction campaign of FAO and Turkey takes off

Reducing food waste ... starting from schools

VIDEOS

Save Your Food: An animated video on reducing food waste for children – long version (1)

Save Your Food: An animated video on reducing food waste for children – short version (1)

Save Your Food: An animated video on reducing food waste for children – short version (2)

Save Your Food: An animated video on reducing food waste for children – short version (3)

PUBLICATIONS

“Do Good: Save Food Age Group 3 (10–13)” (Turkish)