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A civil society model that collects food, clothing, cleaning and hygiene products as donations, sorts and stores them, and delivers them to people in need.
Institutions and individuals “give to the food bank” — food, clothing and cleaning products — and those in need “receive them from the food bank”.
The idea began in 1967 with John van Hengel, a retired businessman living in Phoenix in the United States. While volunteering at a local kitchen that served meals to people in poverty, he noticed that tonnes of goods were being thrown away while still usable, because their date was approaching or their packaging was damaged.
He began storing the food that came in as donations; when more was given than could be handed out, he rented a warehouse to keep it in. Persuading the shops and producers around him, he founded the first food bank. Over the years the model spread around the world.
Food banking is not the solution to poverty in a society — but it is a great support.
The legal framework
The regulations made in 2004 brought both the definition and the tax exemptions that support donations into law.
The quotations below are taken word for word from the Turkish legal texts and are left in Turkish: the binding text is the Turkish one. The introduction above each quotation explains what it covers.
Food banking is defined as follows in the Law on the Production, Consumption and Inspection of Foodstuffs:
Bağışlanan veya üretim fazlası, sağlığa uygun her türlü gıdayı tedarik eden, uygun şartlarda depolayan ve bu ürünleri doğrudan veya değişik yardım kuruluşları vasıtasıyla fakirlere ve doğal afetlerden etkilenenlere ulaştıran ve kâr amacı gütmeyen dernek ve vakıfların oluşturduğu organizasyonSource text (in Turkish) The provision added to the article on expenses deductible when determining commercial profit:
Gıda bankacılığı faaliyetinde bulunan dernek ve vakıflara, Maliye Bakanlığınca belirlenen usul ve esaslar çerçevesinde, bağışlanan gıda maddelerinin maliyet bedelinin, matrahın tespitinde gider olarak kaydedileceğiSource text (in Turkish) The provision added to the deductions that may be made from income declared in the annual return:
Fakirlere yardım amacıyla gıda bankacılığı faaliyetinde bulunan dernek ve vakıflara, Maliye Bakanlığınca belirlenen usul ve esaslar çerçevesinde, bağışlanan gıda maddelerinin maliyet bedelinin tamamı, yıllık beyanname ile bildirilen gelirden indirilirSource text (in Turkish) The provision added to the article on social and military exemptions:
Fakirlere yardım amacıyla gıda bankacılığı faaliyetinde bulunan dernek ve vakıflara Maliye Bakanlığınca belirlenen usul ve esaslar çerçevesinde bağışlanan gıda maddelerinin teslimi KDV'den müstesnadırSource text (in Turkish) For companies
Companies donating under food banking can benefit from the tax exemption. The process works in four steps.
A sales invoice is issued
The company issues a sales invoice for the goods it donates and books them out at 0% VAT. The phrase “ihtiyaç sahiplerine yardım şartıyla bağışlandığından KDV hesaplanmamıştır” is added to the description field of the invoice made out to the association.
Recorded as an in-kind donation
The goods are recorded at the food bank as an in-kind donation. The association issues an In-Kind Donation Income Receipt and gives a copy to the donating company.
The goods reach people in need
An In-Kind Donation Expense Receipt is issued for goods given from the food bank to recipients, and the goods are removed from stock.
The company deducts the donation from tax
The company deducts the total amount it donated to the food bank over the year from that year's corporate tax.
The invoice below was issued for an in-kind donation to the association. When preparing your own, four points are enough to check.
You can listen to the episodes about the Food Bank Programme on our Spotify show (in Turkish).
Food Bank Programme