Traditional foods and their plant ingredients are increasingly disregarded by Turkish youth partly due to their perception as being “uncool” or “food for the poor”. In March 2017, the Aegean Team of BFN Turkey partnered with the Halim Foçali Anatolian Vocational and Technical College (Halim Foçali VTAH) to help raise the profile of wild edibles and, through a series of lectures and hands-on activities, train 16 budding chefs to recognize wild edibles and integrate them in their cooking courses.

The Problem
In Turkey, dietary habits are changing along with cultural and social norms. Wild edible plants, which have been an integral part of human diets since prehistoric times, are common in Turkish cuisine and are still consumed locally. Yet traditional and essentially varied dishes are unpopular with the younger generations who prefer more Western-style foods. This often leads to vitamin and mineral deficiencies and the rise in overweight and obesity, a condition which is becoming increasingly common particularly in Turkish adolescents (as much as 26% for boys and 14% for girls in 11-year-olds). Along with physical inactivity, unhealthy diets are one of the major risk factors for a range of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and other conditions, while the regular consumption of vegetables is recommended for better health and the management of diet-related illnesses.

The study
In March 2017, the Aegean Team of BFN Turkey partnered with the Halim Foçali Anatolian Vocational and Technical College (Halim Foçali VTAH) to deliver a 3-day training to 16 student chefs. Through a series of lectures and handout materials, students learned about plant diversity, the variety of aromatic and medicinal plants existing in Turkey, their use, harvest techniques and production, the nutritional value of vegetables and wild edible plants and their importance in food-based approaches to tackle malnutrition.

Lectures were reinforced by practical activities and nature walks led by the BFN Team, school teachers, local foragers and research staff from the Foça District National Education Directorate. During the walks students were trained to identify the species, collect and photograph the plants to start a school herbarium and use the plants in cooking demonstrations and practical sessions led by school staff for the preparation of traditional salads, roast dishes, pancakes, and omelets.

During the Foça Science Education Festival, the students involved in the project set up an exhibition stand to deliver their new-found knowledge to teachers, students and parents visiting the event. The stand was called “Training on the international Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition (BFN) Project: Students in Nature and in the Kitchen”. Posters and other information material on the species, including recipes for their preparation, were distributed to visitors.

Future plans at Halim Foçali VTAH include the establishment of a herb garden on school premises where wild edibles will be grown to be used in the kitchen during cooking classes.

Impacts and scaling up

• Neighbouring schools took part in the Science Festival learning from their peers at Halim Foçali VTAH about the importance of wild edibles, their nutritional value and their importance in healthy diets.
• The activities undertaken as part of this project have fostered interest from the National Education and Development Directorate of Foça to extend the program to other schools and officially include traditional wild plants as part of the school curriculum
• Within Halim Foçali VTAH, student chefs will start using wild edibles in their cooking classes, while BFN project staff will continue providing support in teaching students about traditional food plants.