Melike Aydın 

 

IZMIR - Women who came together despite the economic crisis met in collective production for winter preparation.

 

The women, who are most affected by the deepening economic crisis, are approaching the end of their winter preparations that they started in August this year. In the Kemalpaşa district of Izmir, women come together and cut noodles after they have finished preparing tarhana, pickle, fig leather, jam, molasses, tomato paste, as a collective, despite the crisis.

 

Women who draw attention to the decrease in agriculture and animal breeding in Kemalpaşa, where the industrial sector is concentrated, say that their consumption habits have changed accordingly.

 

‘Young people do not want to deal with it’

 

Gülgün Ezer, 55-year-old, says that the food they produce from the products they grow in the village is healthier, but says that today’s youth prefer ready foods more. Expressing that young people do not need to prepare for winter for this reason, Gülgün said: ‘’It is easier to eat convenience foods. Even fresh-cut potatoes are sold ready in the markets. Young people both work outside and do not want to deal with it. Because it is a demanding job.’’

 

‘We can only buy our basic needs’

 

Gülgün continues her words about the winter preparations as follows: ‘’Before that, we had tarhana (soup with dried yogurt), we made it. We start in August, winter foods are being prepared until October. We eat them all winter. In winter, we only buy vegetables and dried legumes. In fact, we buy them with money. But you cannot find them in winter, ready ones do not give this taste, we don't know what's in it. We can no longer buy anything. We go to the market, we come without getting what we want. We can only get our very basic needs. These help a lot in the winter.’’

 

‘Women’s labor is not visible’

 

Referring to the effort given for winter preparation, Gülgün said: ‘’They ask what you do. We say, ‘I don’t do a job, I am a homemaker’. We actually do the most work.’’

 

‘We used to be in good health’

 

Saying that tobacco is planted in every village in Kemalpaşa and there are almost no households with vineyards, 74-year-old Elif Özkara stated: ‘’We used to do all kinds of farming, we used to cultivate. But not now. The village is even more crowded, but the young people are always in the factory now. We used to be healthy. We used to go to the plains. We did not know the hospital, the medicine. We used to herbarize when we came from the plains. We would cook them. Our mothers used to deal with such things. We would also help. Now everyone buys from the market. Not good.’’

 

‘Women are becoming conscious, men are changing’

 

Saying that they collectively prepare food in the neighborhood for winter preparations, Elif notes that collective production cannot continue in the next generation. Expressing that men started to change in the face of this situation, Elif said: ‘’Men are also changing now. They can be more helpful to their spouses. But it was not like that before. Women are conscious. Now women are getting more informed.’’