Targeting zero hunger among students and staff

Free and affordable food choices

ITU serves free soup (BEECORBA -free of charge-) every morning at the Ayazağa campus entrance. Students may have their soup at the entrance of the campus before going to their morning classes.

The Dining-hall of ITU releases its daily lunch and dinner menu at their website and app. The price of the menu for students and staff is also stated on the website. Lunch costs 50 cents and dinner is 66 cents in ITU campuses.

Detailed information on supply chain and nutritions of the food is available at their website.

Please see the following links to find more about food services in ITU.

Free Drinking Water

Water dispensers are placed at different points to ensure that students have access to free drinking water. The images show the water dispensers at the Taşkışla Campus.

Filtered water dispensers in faculty buildings

ITU  provide interventions to prevent hunger 

ITU Lunch Scholarship (free of charge lunch) was provided for 1053 students in 2022. Efforts are continuing to support more students. Also, 367 students received accommodation scholarships.

The university is asking the alumni and current members if they can donate for the lunch scholarship and 550,000 TL scholarship collected since April 2022.  Also, 608.753 TL for lunch scholarship and 240.730 TL for accommodation scholarship have been collected.

Food scholarships are provided by our University's Scholarships and Dormitories Coordinatorship so that our students who are studying at our university and experiencing financial difficulties can benefit from the lunch service offered in the cafeteria of our University's Health, Culture and Sports Department free of charge.

Sustainable and affordable food choices for all

All food outlets contain various sustainable food choices. Four kitchens and twenty one cafeteria of different capacities are affiliated at all the Istanbul Technical University Campuses in dining halls affiliated to the Catering Branch Directorate. Those facilities can be used as a main alternative in vegan and catering meals within the scope of the main course. In Dining Halls Affiliated to the Catering Branch Directorate, vegetarian main dishes include wheat, bulgur, flour, etc. from their recipes. By removing raw materials, it will be suitable for use or sensitive abrasion with gluten sensitivity. It benefits from Vegan/Vegetarian options at the same price as other options. Alternative options are available in different cafeterias.

Learning food security and sustainable agriculture in ITU

Safe and Sustainable Food Commission of ITU has established a special event on World Food Day, which is open to the public and free so that interested local farmers and producers can participate. Graduates of the Food Engineering Department who are also local producers and entrepreneurs give speeches at the event. The next event “World Food Day: Future of Food Symposium” will be organized in 2023 together with FAO-Türkiye.

Every year, there are around 60 students who graduate from agriculture and aquaculture courses including sustainability aspects.

ITU welcomes local farmers and food producers  

The Food Service System of ITU prefers to use products from local food sources. Additionally, members of the Food Engineering Department have worked in two collaborative research projects with the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies – Fruit Research Institute. Project topics include determination of quality criteria of agricultural products and supply chain-oriented determination of Breeding Goals.

Istanbul Technical University participates in developing the knowledge and skills of local farmers and food producers. ITU Food Engineering Department offers a comprehensive analytical and testing service to support the needs of the local farmers and food producers. The Department provides specific technical expertise and can organize special educational programs and workshops to fit the producers' needs. (Please click for services and laboratories.)

Additionally, ITU takes active roles in promoting technological advancement and innovation to generate startups and enhance the industrial sector with their project. (please click for projects , agriculture projects, a collaborative project.)

Moreover, ITU collaborated with Cargill and various stakeholders for Sustainable Agriculture.

Track Organic Food Waste in ITU

The consumption of food and water is affected by the campus population which varies in ITU due to its public facilities. Along with students and employees, many local people enter the university campuses throughout the day. Therefore, the food waste is greatly affected by the visitors’ activities. Additionally, due to the covid-19 restrictions there has been a fluctuation in the amount of food waste.

The amount of food waste in Dining Halls affiliated to the catering branch directorate is decreased in 2022. This is because various steps have been taken to ensure less packaged food consumption and reduce packaging waste is used.