Miller Magazine Issue: 128 August 2020

63 ARTICLE MILLER / August 2020 Mesopotamia, Gaziantep is also a strong place for gast- ronomy in Turkey. Especially local agricultural products, local cuisines, endemic species, and ancient cuisines were planned to be the most important areas to be featured for gastro- nomy tourism. There were ambitious goals for tourism in the scope of 2020 gastronomy year. Agriculture and tourism would meet in the same pot to create value for the country. Everything was perfect until the global pan- demic of the coronavirus. The coronavirüs pandemic deeply affected many sec- tors including tourism. As the transport, hospitality, food, and agriculture sectors are mutually interdependent with tourism and each other, the problems are so widespread. The tourism season may be delayed for 3 or 4 months. National and international flights are all canceled. Agri- cultural product and machinery exporters have already revised their business goals. The latest coronavirüs crisis created comprehensive discussions about the future of the agricultural sector. Agriculture is a strategic area because of several factors like increasing populations, unemployment, hunger, car- bon footprint, etc. Societies will be tested in the future in terms of their ability to ensure the availability of healthy food for all. Access to food is a vital goal for all gover- nments. Malnutrition is a risk for the future of societies. That is to say, the future of modern states will be closely associated with their food policies. Therefore, the ministries of Agriculture, Tourism, and Health should develop joint strategies. Using the techno- logy to make a difference in agriculture and making Tur- key a hub for high-value-added food products that are coherent with future models of nutrition is only a matter of political will. The coronavirüs crisis may be an oppor- tunity for the future of seed growing and goals of seed growing can be reset. Why? I was eating my quinoa salad with pleasure and thin- king about how the coronavirüs prevented the realization of our dreams. It would be a real pleasure and a profitab- le business to export our local products to the most re- mote villages in the world. Now a tiny virus is set to stop us. As soon as the lockdown begins, we started to feel the scarcity down to the bones and rushed to the super- markets to leaving empty shelves behind. We returned to granaries as if we are in thousands-years-old Hittite tales. Suddenly I remembered my primary teacher saying proudly that Turkey was among 7 self-sufficient agricul- ture countries. But this is not an issue for many years since most of us internalized the capitalist motto “it is not important where you produce, the whole world is your market”. That’s why the agricultural industry should be reshaped. Anatolia is the motherland of agriculture and seeds. So Turkey should be repositioned as a country of agriculture. There is no doubt that our inherited seeds and genetic wealth will be the most significant advantage for us to design agricultural products. Turkey’s current genebanks are keeping local seeds which are vital materials for bree- ders. If Turkey becomes a hub for high-value-added food products that are coherent with future models of nutri- tion, Turkish bakers will also be in a very advantageous position. Ancient seeds are widely discussed including people that do not know the subject thoroughly. But we can ea- sily say that a real opportunity is there for local varieties. Do you know why? ANATOLIAN BREAD FOR WORLD MARKETS… Protein-rich and fiber-rich products with less gluten and a lower glycemic index will be important in the futu- re. For example, bakery products made of local grains can be enriched with pulses. It is possible to create a bakery food brand offering healthy and trendy food that conta- ins various local fruits and vegetables. If you need an underlying story for the brand, you can easily create it with the inspiration of the history of Mesopotamia or twelve-thousand-year-old grain, seed, and bread legacy of Anatolia. The new brand to be created can be positioned to the homeland of the wheat Anatolia. It can offer values like health, his- tory, mythology. It can be promoted in global markets with Turkish tea. And this brand can offer products like bread, snacks, crisps and it can target gastronomy devotees and youth. NEW GRAINS FOR THE BREAD OF THE FUTURE This industry should work on the bakery products brand while seed breeders try to create high-value-ad- ded agricultural products which that brand needs. Food factories should be near to farmlands and a joint strategy should be developed. Seed breeding is the future for food production. We should develop food of the future with local agri- cultural products that are compatible with the geograp- hy. The functional food market has gained prominence each year. We were trying to develop bread for Mars a few years ago but now we have to work for sustainable food production for the Earth to overcome the challenges we will have to face. THE BREAD OF FUTURE… The bread of the future is the staple food to be con- sumed during difficult times. Protein-rich and healthy bread will be important for dietary trends in the future. Fibrous bread types that are enriched with several grains are both healthy and nutritious. Shelf-stable bread is ea- sier to stockpile. We can consume this when we need to