From the Field to Kent Market Shelves

Bornova Municipality is bringing summer vegetables harvested by university students and workers at the 15-decare Yakaköy Solidarity Field to Kent Market shelves, where they are being made available to residents in need. Bornova Mayor Ömer Eşki and Torbalı Mayor Övünç Demir visited the center where the project is being implemented and announced that they are building a new agricultural cooperation bridge between the two districts, including cooperative products. As the municipality with the largest number of urban gardens in Türkiye, Bornova continues to support local agriculture and women producers through this solidarity initiative, as well as through 786 production plots across seven different locations.

Bornova Municipality has carried out the first harvest at the 15-decare “Solidarity Field” at the Yakaköy Natural Farming Farm, bringing a new dimension to its social municipality approach. Fresh tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants harvested through the efforts of municipal workers and university students have been placed free of charge on the shelves of the Celal Altınay Kent Market in central Bornova for residents in need. Bornova Mayor Ömer Eşki toured the Kent Market with Torbalı Mayor Övünç Demir, who was visiting him, and made important statements about the solidarity stand. The two mayors also announced a new agricultural production and cooperative partnership to be established between Bornova and Torbalı.

Mayor Eşki: “Our students harvested the crops; now we are sharing them with our community”

Speaking to residents in front of the Solidarity Field stand during his visit, Bornova Mayor Ömer Eşki described the people-centered aspect of the project:

“Today is a very happy and proud day for us. Torbalı Mayor and my dear friend Övünç Demir has come to visit us today. We had a very productive meeting with him. Very soon, we will also bring the wonderful, natural products produced by cooperatives in Torbalı to you here at the Kent Market. We have completed the preliminary discussions and planning for this initiative.

Today, we are also at the end of a very special process—the harvest season. We established a ‘Solidarity Field’ on a 15-decare plot in Yakaköy. University students came to this solidarity field, contributed their labor, and harvested the crops together. Following the harvest, our university students, who are struggling with difficult economic conditions, took the products they needed for their own kitchens home with them. We are now bringing the tons of produce remaining after meeting our students’ needs together with residents at the Kent Manav units we have established within our Kent Markets.

We will share the beauty of the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants grown from these lands with residents of Bornova who are genuinely in need. We are experiencing the peace and happiness that this brings. In every aspect and every area of life, we stand with and support our community. This project is one of the finest examples of this vision. We are happy to bring fresh produce, harvested through the tremendous efforts of our municipal workers and university students at Bornova Municipality’s Solidarity Field, to the tables of our residents and provide them with a measure of support.”

Övünç Demir: “An initiative that deserves a perfect score”

Torbalı Mayor Övünç Demir stated that Bornova’s social municipality model should serve as an example, and spoke about the cooperation between the two districts and the project:

“We came to visit Mayor Ömer. We closely follow the projects he has implemented in Bornova and are proud of them. As you know, Torbalı is not only a very strong industrial city but also a major agricultural center. Because of our agricultural identity, Mayor Ömer invited us to come and see this wonderful initiative firsthand.

We did not come empty-handed today. We brought samples of our locally produced tulum cheese, kashar cheese, Ezine cheese, our delicious butter with an acidity level of 0.82 percent, and our world-famous Metropolis olive oil from Torbalı. Mayor Ömer kindly told us that these high-quality, natural products will be offered in Bornova’s markets and made available to the people of Bornova.

I believe the integration of the Solidarity Field established in Yakaköy with the Kent Market is an exemplary model that deserves a perfect score. On this occasion, I would like to sincerely thank Mayor Ömer and all his colleagues who have worked day and night on this project. We extend our love and respect to all the people of Bornova.”

Türkiye’s Urban Agriculture Hub

With the Solidarity Field project, Bornova Municipality is raising the bar even higher while proudly carrying the distinction of being the municipality with the largest number of urban gardens in Türkiye.

The Urban Gardens were established particularly to enable women to participate in production while contributing to their household economies. Together, they form a major agricultural network across seven locations in the district. The distribution of the 786 production plots is as follows:

• Doğanlar Urban Garden: 278 plots
• EVKA-4 / İnönü Urban Garden: 247 plots
• Mevlana Urban Garden: 77 plots
• Işıkkent / Egemenlik Urban Garden: 65 plots
• Altındağ / Koşukavak / Birlik Urban Garden: 53 plots
• Pınarbaşı Urban Garden: 49 plots
• Rafetpaşa Urban Garden: 17 plots