Biz de çocuklarımızı ve küçük çiftçilerimizi koruyalım…
Küçük çiftçiler, yerel kaynaklarımızı ve biyoçeşitliliğimizi koruma konusunda en önemli aktörlerdir. Ürettikleri ürünlerin daha da sağlıklı olmasını sağlayacak önlemler alınabilir. Başta yerel çeşitler olmak üzere yerel doğal kaynakları geliştirecek ve muhafaza edecekleri üretim modellerini uygulamaları veya devam etmeleri desteklenebilir. Okullara doğrudan satış yapabilecekleri programlar hayata geçirilebilir. Milli Eğitim, Gıda Tarım ve Hayvancılık ve Sağlık Bakanlığı ile yerel yönetimler böyle bir programa çeşitli destek ve hibelerle can verebilir. Yerel, küçük hatta genç çiftçilerden olmak koşulu ile ekmekten, peynire, sebze ve meyveden, zeytinyağına kadar üretilen, yetiştirilen ürünlerin okullarda tüketilmesi sağlanabilir. Yerel olarak örgütlenmelerine destek olunabilir. Bu tür uygulamalar “okul sütü programı” gibi ulusal bir program ve politika haline getirilebilir.
Ulusal düzeyde uygulanacak böylesi programların gerek geleceğimiz olan çocuklarımız gerekse küçük çiftçilerimiz için iyi bir fırsat olduğunu düşünüp, talep ve tercih etmeliyiz.
Localness, Small-Scale Farmers and Schools
Today, balanced nutrition, healthy food and food safety have become very important issues for schools just as they are in almost every field of our daily lives. Relevant ministries, local authorities, school administrations and parents have been trying to take various measures in this regard. There are laws, regulations and circulars regarding these issues. Some local authorities carry out good projects within the scope of these issues. The relevant laws, regulations and circulars state that a great deal of attention needs to be paid to the issues such as how healthy the plants and animals that are the source of foodstuffs are bred, whether there are agricultural pesticide or antibiotic residues on foods, whether the water sources used for irrigation are clean, and that the responsibility in this respect lays with the producers. However, we see that, in practice, these issues are ignored and they are not sufficiently monitored. As a matter of fact, the abovementioned issues are among the leading factors that cause significant and lethal diseases.
The "From farm to school" programme claimed to have originated in Brazil is a programme widely applied and supported in the United States and Europe today. Under this programme, it is ensured that the local healthy food produced by local, small-scale farmers is consumed in schools, including the kindergartens.
The research carried out on this programme reveals that it is believed that children love the local food more, the local products are healthier, the prices of these products are more affordable and the farmers in the region are protected when the products are obtained from these small-scale, local farmers.
Small-scale family farmers are the most important actors in protecting the local resources and biodiversity. Measures can be taken to ensure the products they produce are healthier. That they apply or continue to implement production models that help develop and preserve the local natural resources, mainly the local varieties can be supported. Programmes that will allow them to sell their products directly to schools can be developed. The Ministry of Education, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock and the Ministry of Health can grant various subsidies and support to such programmes. Believing that such programmes to be implemented at the national level are great opportunities for both our children that are our future and the small-scale farmers, we should opt for and demand their application.
