Time to take action

“Did you know that when you throw away a rotten avocado from your fridge, you are also throwing away 70 liters of water?”

******

By the time children born today reach the age of 25, Turkey’s population will have reached 105 million.

In 2050, the increase in production based on food demand will be 65% higher than it is today, and 15% more water will be needed for food production in 2050 than is currently used.

However, due to the impact of climate change, a yield loss of 10% to 25% is projected in agricultural production by 2050. Scientists predict that we may encounter the problems associated with a 0.5-degree temperature change in the world much sooner.

THE FOOD AND WATER CRISIS IS AT OUR DOOR!

But this is not being discussed at all. Due to the wrong agricultural policies implemented over the last 20 years, our water basins have been polluted, and our soil is sounding the alarm. The organic matter content of 88 percent of agricultural land in Turkey is below 2 percent! Today, due to the climate crisis, 23 percent of our soil carries a high sensitivity to desertification, and 51 percent carries a medium risk of desertification.

In our country, only 4.2 million hectares of land have lost their productivity due to salinization.

The unconscious use of fertilizers and pesticides in conventional farming methods has exhausted our soil and made it much more unproductive. When the impact of climate change on reducing yields is added to this, the nutritional problem of the growing population will emerge as a serious issue.

But these vital problems are not being brought to the agenda.

Unfortunately, many producers and consumers do not know the difference between modern agriculture and agroecological agriculture.

We can stop the disaster we will face in the near future by taking action now.

I set out to at least create awareness. I talked to those who are willing to take responsibility. One of them was my father, Prof. Dr. Yavuz Tekelioğlu, a scientist who dedicated his life to the agricultural economy of this country.

I made this documentary to warn people of all ages, from 7 to 70, and to ensure we become aware.

“Did you know that when you throw away a rotten avocado from your fridge, you are also throwing away 70 liters of water?”

Buying only what we need, storing it correctly, planned and contract-based production, rapidly transitioning to agroecological agriculture with a public policy, and explaining agroecology correctly to the producer and the consumer. We have a lot of work to do and little time! I hope this documentary enables us to take that step quickly and creates even a small impact.

Hippocrates said, “Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food!”

It is time to take action before our food becomes our poison. It is time to take responsibility.

Because for our future, “IT IS WORTH PRODUCING!”