12 Million Loaves of Bread Thrown Away Every Day in Turkey

12 Million Loaves of Bread Discarded Daily Bread is considered sacred in Turkey. It is believed that discarding bread is a serious sin. Yet 12 million loaves go stale and are thrown away every day. In other words, we throw away TRY 60 million daily. The Zero Waste and Recycling Awareness Association SAGEF has launched a meaningful campaign to prevent this alarming waste. SAGEF has prepared hundreds of recipes for dishes that can be made with stale bread under the slogan "Let's eat stale bread meals once a week and say no to waste." Under the campaign launched on 29 September International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, stale bread recipes have begun to be shared through social media accounts. SAGEF President Ekrem Altıntepe stated in a statement regarding the campaign that raising awareness to prevent waste, which has become one of Turkey's and the world's most pressing problems, begins with preventing bread waste. Altıntepe noted that as an association they have launched the campaign "Eat stale bread meals once a week." Altıntepe said: "Everything we have described may sound like an old story, but it is a fresh idea for the future. All you need to do is make the decision to use stale bread. Let's eat stale bread meals once a week, even if just once, and say no to waste."

842 million people suffering from chronic hunger

Altıntepe also addressed the scale of waste occurring in the world. He continued his remarks as follows:

"Food loss and waste have a major impact on society. They contribute to climate change, hunger, economic insecurity and pressure on limited resources. FAO estimates that 1.3 billion tons of food are lost or wasted annually, resulting in USD 1 trillion in economic costs, approximately USD 700 billion in environmental costs and USD 900 billion in social costs. From an environmental perspective, an estimated 8 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions result as a consequence of producing food that is lost or wasted. Approximately 842 million people are estimated to suffer from chronic hunger. Food insecurity continues to be one of the world's greatest challenges today."