The Effects of Geographically Indicated Products on Sustainable Agriculture, Food Safety and Food Security

Özet

Geographical indications are a labeling tool that helps protect the quality, reputation, and characteristics of traditional products belonging to a specific geographical region. This labeling ensures the representation and recognition not only of the geographical origin of the product but also of the production methods and specialized knowledge specific to that region.Sustainable agriculture is an understanding and practice that aims to ensure the continuity of agricultural production by balancing environmental, economic, and social factors. Geographical indications, which aim to protect the quality and uniqueness of products belonging to a specific region, have the potential to be an important actor in achieving this goal. This is because the production of geographically indicated products is generally based on traditional and local farming methods, which help ensure biodiversity and protect local species.. Food security and food safety are closely related but distinct concepts; they encompass many elements including ensuring an adequate food supply, producing food safely, and distributing produced food equitably and sustainably to those who need it, as well as food access. Food security, which refers to the right to meet and consume the nutritional needs necessary for a healthy life, and food safety, which demonstrates the suitability of food in terms of physical, biological, and chemical aspects and its absence of health risks, intersect in many ways with geographical indication. This is because geographically indicated products, grown in areas with specific climate and soil conditions and subject to certain quality standards, share common goals with food safety and security, and therefore have points of intersection with these concepts.In our opinion, establishing a common language and documentation infrastructure in quality management at universities, including internationalization, will not only facilitate the implementation of quality processes but will also contribute to strengthening reliability, consistency, and international compliance in scientific production.The aim of this study is to examine the effects of geographically indicated products on sustainable agricultural practices, food safety, and food security using data obtained from a literature review on the subject. The results obtained from the analysis, based on the aim, conditions, criteria, and data related to the selected example application (Bayburt geographically indicated products), show that geographically indicated products significantly contribute to promoting sustainable agricultural practices while also increasing food safety and food security.