Eighth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Agricultural food system is challenged to feed an estimated population of 9.7 billion people by 2050 with diminishing land and water resources. Furthermore, considering today’s community structure, it is not an easy task to describe the complex ties between food, nature, economy and culture. Current links between development and the agricultural food research tend to follow either a formal policy framework (through social and ecological analysis of agricultural systems independently from each other) or a complex socio-ecological systems based policy. However, as the world experiences a significant transition into a new era where networked organizations and knowledge-intense structures are observed, factors of agricultural production also require substantial and innovative frameworks. This paper will attempt to analyze the changing façade of the agricultural ecosystem in Turkey in the information age through the new and the old players of the game: traditional farmers and the networked farmers through a social media analysis and deep interviews. Ranked 1st in Europe and 7th in the world by agricultural production, Turkey has a fast-growing food market. Due to the challenges of the new era, a resistant ecosystem which can transfer the know-how between the traditional and the new farming system will be a focus point.