Kitchen Meetings:
Ecological Ways of Living: Fair Food and Shared Tables
Salt Beyoğlu
June 20, 2026 11.00
Buğday Sofraları [Communal Tables]
Illustration: Neval Ergün
Illustration: Neval Ergün
Kitchen
“Kitchen Meetings” continues with its third session, exploring the role of food, the kitchen, and the table in building ecological ways of living. Bringing together key figures involved in the Buğday Association for Supporting Ecological Living and the Buğday Movement—which has worked since the 1990s to foster ecological awareness and develop holistic approaches to sustainable and just ways of living—the program features food producer Mehmet Halil Kul, writer, editor, and communications specialist Oya Ayman, and graphic designer, writer, and editor Lalehan Uysal.
In this gathering, participants will share their experiences and perspectives on fair food production, holistic ecological living practices, and the culture of the shared table. The discussion will explore how ecological, sustainable, healthy, and just food systems can be established and sustained; how the journey of food from field to table can be envisioned and communicated; and how such practices and models can be shared more widely. The program will also consider the kitchen and the table not merely as sites of food consumption, but as spaces for gathering, collective learning, collaborative production, and exchange. Through concrete examples, participants will reflect on how collective imaginaries of the future of food and life take shape through labor and cooperation, while addressing the role of solidarity within ecological movements.
The program will also revisit the practice of the “Buğday Sofraları” [Communal Tables], inherited from Victor Ananias, founder of the Buğday Movement, and a shared table will be set up as part of the gathering. The event will begin with a collective food preparation session, during which vegetarian snacks will be made using seasonal produce sourced from the Campus Gardens and the Şişli 100% Ecological Market. The food will be shared during the presentations, followed by an open discussion. The presentations and discussion will be held in Turkish. The program is limited to 30 participants.
Click here to register.
PROGRAM
11.00 Collective Food Preparation
12.30 Presentations and Discussion
“Kitchen Meetings” is presented as part of Practice Matters, a long-term project exploring design, craft, architecture, and spatial practices and their ability to respond to urgent issues of conflict and crisis. The project is developed in collaboration between IASPIS and Salt and is programmed by Magnus Ericson and Eylül Şenses.
Mehmet Halil Kul is an organic agriculture practitioner who continues the farming tradition passed down through his grandfather and father in the Kemalpaşa district of İzmir. Together with his family, he grows a variety of summer fruits, including cherries, apricots, plums, peaches, and grapes, and brings his produce directly to consumers through organic markets in Istanbul and İzmir.
Oya Ayman is a writer, editor, communications specialist, and member of the Strategic Board of the Buğday Association. She began her career as a reporter while studying at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Communication. Between 1985 and 2016, she worked as a reporter, director, writer, and editor for a range of newspapers, magazines, and television channels, including NTV, Haberci, National Geographic Türkiye, and Al Jazeera Türk. Alongside serving as editor-in-chief of Buğday Ecological Living Magazine, she has contributed to various projects focused on ecological production methods and sustainable consumption practices. A member of the Buğday Movement since 1998, Ayman is committed to fostering ecological literacy, supporting direct access to healthy food, and strengthening connections between rural and urban communities, with a particular focus on rural life, voluntary simplicity, food sovereignty, and agroecology. She has edited numerous publications and is the author of Güneş Toprakları (Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 1999) and Şapkanın Altındaki Kıta (MB Yayınevi, 2006).
Lalehan Uysal is a graphic designer, writer, and editor. She studied graphic design at the State School of Applied Fine Arts (now Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts). She worked as a designer for Nokta, Kadınca, and Erkekçe, which played a formative role in magazine publishing in Turkey. She taught in the Department of Journalism at Yeditepe University’s Faculty of Communication. Since 1997, she has been actively involved in the Buğday Movement, contributing to its projects, publications, and initiatives. She led the creative direction of the Buğday Association’s visual identity, Buğday Ecological Living Magazine, and various other publications, and contributed to the establishment of the 100% Ecological Markets in collaboration with local municipalities. Uysal now describes herself simply as a “Seed Observer.” Through her seed photography, exhibited in Turkey and internationally under the title For the Wolf, the Bird, the Food… and the Eye, she foregrounds seeds as fundamental agents of life and ecological continuity.
“Kitchen Meetings” continues with its third session, exploring the role of food, the kitchen, and the table in building ecological ways of living. Bringing together key figures involved in the Buğday Association for Supporting Ecological Living and the Buğday Movement—which has worked since the 1990s to foster ecological awareness and develop holistic approaches to sustainable and just ways of living—the program features food producer Mehmet Halil Kul, writer, editor, and communications specialist Oya Ayman, and graphic designer, writer, and editor Lalehan Uysal.
In this gathering, participants will share their experiences and perspectives on fair food production, holistic ecological living practices, and the culture of the shared table. The discussion will explore how ecological, sustainable, healthy, and just food systems can be established and sustained; how the journey of food from field to table can be envisioned and communicated; and how such practices and models can be shared more widely. The program will also consider the kitchen and the table not merely as sites of food consumption, but as spaces for gathering, collective learning, collaborative production, and exchange. Through concrete examples, participants will reflect on how collective imaginaries of the future of food and life take shape through labor and cooperation, while addressing the role of solidarity within ecological movements.
The program will also revisit the practice of the “Buğday Sofraları” [Communal Tables], inherited from Victor Ananias, founder of the Buğday Movement, and a shared table will be set up as part of the gathering. The event will begin with a collective food preparation session, during which vegetarian snacks will be made using seasonal produce sourced from the Campus Gardens and the Şişli 100% Ecological Market. The food will be shared during the presentations, followed by an open discussion. The presentations and discussion will be held in Turkish. The program is limited to 30 participants.
Click here to register.
PROGRAM
11.00 Collective Food Preparation
12.30 Presentations and Discussion
“Kitchen Meetings” is presented as part of Practice Matters, a long-term project exploring design, craft, architecture, and spatial practices and their ability to respond to urgent issues of conflict and crisis. The project is developed in collaboration between IASPIS and Salt and is programmed by Magnus Ericson and Eylül Şenses.
Mehmet Halil Kul is an organic agriculture practitioner who continues the farming tradition passed down through his grandfather and father in the Kemalpaşa district of İzmir. Together with his family, he grows a variety of summer fruits, including cherries, apricots, plums, peaches, and grapes, and brings his produce directly to consumers through organic markets in Istanbul and İzmir.
Oya Ayman is a writer, editor, communications specialist, and member of the Strategic Board of the Buğday Association. She began her career as a reporter while studying at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Communication. Between 1985 and 2016, she worked as a reporter, director, writer, and editor for a range of newspapers, magazines, and television channels, including NTV, Haberci, National Geographic Türkiye, and Al Jazeera Türk. Alongside serving as editor-in-chief of Buğday Ecological Living Magazine, she has contributed to various projects focused on ecological production methods and sustainable consumption practices. A member of the Buğday Movement since 1998, Ayman is committed to fostering ecological literacy, supporting direct access to healthy food, and strengthening connections between rural and urban communities, with a particular focus on rural life, voluntary simplicity, food sovereignty, and agroecology. She has edited numerous publications and is the author of Güneş Toprakları (Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 1999) and Şapkanın Altındaki Kıta (MB Yayınevi, 2006).
Lalehan Uysal is a graphic designer, writer, and editor. She studied graphic design at the State School of Applied Fine Arts (now Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts). She worked as a designer for Nokta, Kadınca, and Erkekçe, which played a formative role in magazine publishing in Turkey. She taught in the Department of Journalism at Yeditepe University’s Faculty of Communication. Since 1997, she has been actively involved in the Buğday Movement, contributing to its projects, publications, and initiatives. She led the creative direction of the Buğday Association’s visual identity, Buğday Ecological Living Magazine, and various other publications, and contributed to the establishment of the 100% Ecological Markets in collaboration with local municipalities. Uysal now describes herself simply as a “Seed Observer.” Through her seed photography, exhibited in Turkey and internationally under the title For the Wolf, the Bird, the Food… and the Eye, she foregrounds seeds as fundamental agents of life and ecological continuity.
