Anatolia’s edible herb culture is quite rich since different herbs grow in each region. Samsun is one of the provinces contributing to Anatolian cuisine with almost 2,000 edible herbs.

Dilek Genç, President of the Samsun Tourism Association and project coordinator, says that the road to the EU-supported “Return to Nature for a Healthy Life” project passed through the “Herb Food Festival”, of which she is one of the organisers. This project results from efforts to create a continuous sales opportunity for women who sell home-made herbal food at the festival. Within the scope of the project, the women entrepreneurs working in gastronomy, agriculture and tourism are empowered, and women’s employment is supported.

Dilek Genç describes the project, which has managed to reach about 150 women, in the following words:

“Within the scope of this project of Samsun Tourism Association and the European Union, we have established the Local Labour Women Production Cooperative. We’ve aimed to jar and sell products that women already produce at home. For this, we opened a joint production centre and trained women on hygiene, marketing and production techniques."

Dilek Genç, project coordinator

Genç emphasises the importance of hygiene, especially at the jarring stage: “Hygiene ensures that the products remain intact in the long term. We pay attention to this because we do not use additives.”

Come and join us!

Any woman with a hygiene certificate can join the cooperative and produce to order in the communal kitchen. One of these women is İnci Temiz. Temiz, who heard about the project from Dilek Genç at the Herbal Food Festival, became a member of the cooperative when the project attracted her interest.

“After completing the training, we started to produce and sell. I say to all housewives, don’t be helpless. Come and participate in production! You can also meet the needs of your home,” she states.

Any woman with a hygiene certificate can join the cooperative.

Jam from acacia blossoms

Ayşegül Eren has become a member of the cooperative with the guidance of her instructor at the cooking course she attended. She says: “We didn’t know that we could pickle, jar and sell the herbs in the garden. We learned that corn poppy could be turned into juice, and jam could be made from acacia blossoms at the cooperative.”

Emphasising the importance of such projects in supporting women to gain self-confidence, Eren says, "I gained my self-confidence in this cooperative. I appeal to all housewives: Come to our cooperative, have confidence in yourself and participate in production here."

The €163,000 “Returned to Nature for a Healthy Life” project, funded by the EU Civil Society Dialogue Program, has been prepared with the Spanish non-governmental organisation Nexes. The project's partner is the 19 May Local Action Group Association (OMYEGDER), which the Central Black Sea Development Agency and Samsun Metropolitan Municipality also support.

Photos by Erdem Kırım

Stories about EU-Türkiye cooperation