June 9, 2026
The Fenerbahçe University Faculty of Communication event “Make it food, not waste: Do not feed, nurture!” was held as part of Zero Waste Week. The event aimed to raise awareness of sustainability, food waste, and animal welfare.
During the event, which was coordinated by Assistant Professor Esra Pelin Güregen Dereboyu within the scope of the Social Responsibility Project course, students transformed household food leftovers into food for street animals, highlighting both environmental sustainability and social awareness.
During the first part of the event, the founders of Pawfoody—Sevgi Genç, Cem Genç, and Funda Gündoğan—and Veterinary General Practitioner İnci Şahin Oktay informed the participants about the basic principles regarding feeding pets and street animals at the F02 Blue Room. During the seminar, participants learned about protein balance, toxic food for animals, and non-industrial methods of food preparation for animals.
The event continued with a Cornhole tournament at the library area in F Block. At this stage, where the ingredients to be used in the competition were determined, students experienced a competitive and fun atmosphere. Afterwards, groups moved to the F103 Kitchen Lab, where they demonstrated their teamwork and creativity skills by preparing nutritious food for street animals. The prepared food was evaluated by the jury for content balance, creativity, sustainability, and application success. After the jury evaluation, the prepared food was distributed to street animals, which marked the most meaningful evaluation process of the event. Thus, the final evaluation of the competition was made by the street animals, the actual owners of the food.
At the end of the evaluation process, the first prize was awarded to Team Peri members Simay Yayla, Rümeysa Korkmaz and Defne Cerlek, third-year Interior Architecture and Environmental Design students from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Design, and Architecture. The second prize went to Team Sympathy members, third-year Interior Architecture student Ebru Çopur, and Nutrition and Dietetics third-year students Elif Eser and Azra Yalçın from the Faculty of Health Sciences. The third prize was awarded to Group Mamayes members Ömer Coşman, Emirhan Tokgöz, and İbrahim Aladağ from the Faculty of Health Sciences, Nursing Department.
At the end of the event, the award-winning teams received congratulatory certificates and prizes of 5 kilograms, 3 kilograms, and 2 kilograms of pet food, respectively, provided by Pawfoody. All food prepared during the event was delivered to street animals in need.
The event, which aimed to develop a sense of social responsibility, draw attention to food waste, and promote sustainable habits, drew considerable attention. The students had the opportunity to experience how certain food products, often seen as waste in daily life, can contribute to the nutrition of street animals when utilized with the right methods.
