by Sukru Esin
When I received an email a researcher from University of Cusano (Rome, Italy) to join a consortium working on a post-harvest food waste prevention proposal, I was really excited and right away accepted the offer. Most of my work at MetaMeta Anatolia is focusing on saving water and increasing yield. This time, it was about what happens after “harvest”. I mean how to prevent waste and ensure that food reaches to people. We developed the proposal and submitted it to the Prima-Med Program. The commission accepted our project, and about 10 months ago, the project started. One of my tasks is contributing to the development of an IoT-based device to monitor post-harvest food loss using gas emission sensors. Basically, we are trying to detect spoilage before it happens. Sound cool, isn’t it? Our goal is simple: what we grow should reach people, not the garbage.
I love working on solutions for agriculture and water related challenges. It’s not just my job, its my passion. Reducing post harvest food loss, especially in the Mediterranean region, is a big deal. We waste so much food here, especially fruit. It is frustrating, urgent but it is fixable challenge.
But I can’t lie. I have been feeling deeply conflicted because while I work on food waste, just 1.000 km away, in Gaza, people are not dealing with waste. THEY ARE STARVING!
Every day, I read horrifying updates. Food and humanitarian aid have been blocked or restricted for months. Children are dying from starvation. This is happening in 2025, and this makes me sick.
I am from Urfa (Turkey), and Gaza is about the same distance from me as Amsterdam is from Marseille, France. That is how close I am to famine, and it is happening in real time, in front of the entire world. This isn’t about drought, this isn’t about crop failure. This is about access. This is about cruelty.
I can’t just keep working on food waste solutions while this is happening right next door. It makes me feel wrong, and I feel empty because technology and innovation mean nothing without justice. Yes, smart tech can help reduce food waste. Yes, we can build better systems to protect perishable fruits, and yes, I believe we are aiming to reach our goals in the SAPHIRA project. But technology is not enough. Because if food doesn’t reach the people of Gaza, what’s the point?
No child should die of hunger while warehouses are full of grain.
No family should beg for wheat flour while countries throw away bread because it is old.
No one should suffer from famine when the world has more than enough food.
Enough is enough!
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