Slow Food movement celebrates Mother Earth Day in Turkey

Every year on Dec. 10 the International Slow Food Movement celebrates the annual Terra Madre Day, also called "Mother Earth Day," to promote healthy food traditions and production to build a sustainable future. In Turkey, the day will be widely celebrated from Dec. 5-9 in Muğla and as well as two resort towns, Bodrum and Milas.

In Bodrum, health writers and physicians will gather with locals and students on Dec. 5 and Dec. 9. In 20 scheduled events, hundreds of students will discuss the health benefits of local food consumption. Similarly, an earth market will be set up in Milas on Dec. 6 where locals can get locally-produced food and fruits. Local villagers will also bring their homemade food there. Another earth market will be in Bodrum on Dec. 9 and locals can find the best of fresh fruits like the organic Bodrum mandarin.

Slow Food is an organization with global grassroots, founded to preserve local food cultures and traditions by counteracting the rapidly expanding, fast-paced life and the dwindling interest in the foods we eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us. Since its launch, the initiative has become a global movement involving millions of people in over 160 countries, working to ensure everyone has access to good, clean food. Slow Food believes food is tied to many other aspects of life, including culture, politics, agriculture and the environment. Through smart food choices, the team believes that they can collectively influence how food is cultivated, produced and distributed, and, as a result, bring change.

In Turkey, Earth Markets, another initiative by the Slow Food Movement, are located in different cities such as those in İzmir's Foça district, Istanbul's Şile district, Gökçeada in Çanakkale along with temporary ones in the districts of Urla and Seferihisar. These markets also promote environmental sustainability and additive-free products. Germiyan is the first village to take a national step to encourage the Slow Food Movement in other cities.