Sevilma Olive Grove: Turkey’s first Slow Food Farm

Written by: Güven Eken and Saner Erdoğan

Imagine an olive grove where the soil is never ploughed, no irrigation is carried out, and not even a single tree is planted. It may seem impossible—yet this method has been practised in the ancient olive pastures of the Aegean Region for over four thousand years. Formed by grafting onto wild olive trees rather than planting new ones, these ancient production areas represent one of the oldest and most resilient forms of food production in human history.

In this unique, ancient production region of Izmir, humans are not the masters of the land; they are part of the web of life, alongside birds, chameleons, jackals and all other living creatures. Harvesting olives straight from the branch is not merely a task, but a celebration in its own right. The result… A unique olive oil that is healthy and nourishing for both people and the entire planet, and recognised as a Presidium by Slow Food.

One example of this timeless way of life is the Sevilma Olive Grove, situated in the Orhanlı Valley in Izmir. Our grove is set to become Turkey’s first officially recognised Slow Food Farm It took off and became one of the cornerstones of the country’s rapidly growing Slow Food movement.

A Life Rooted in a Circular Culture

The roots of Sevilma Olive Grove lie in our 250-year-old family farm in Gelibolu. About ten years ago, we decided to expand our tradition of wheat-based farming by establishing an olive grove and an olive oil production facility in the Aegean region. We named our new farm after our mother, Sevil Eken, to ensure her name lives on. Sevilma We named it after him. We named our olive oil processing plant, which forms part of the farm, after our father: the Ercan Baba Olive Oil Factory. The establishment of our farm was built on the shoulders of the hard-working and self-sacrificing young people of Orhanlı village. They, too, are now the owners of our farm…

Sevilma Olive Grove is a small yet vibrant part of Izmir’s unique, ancient agricultural basins. It is an ecosystem where semi-wild olive trees thrive in harmony with human communities and all living beings. This production model is built upon the four core principles of circular culture: harmony with one another, harmony with nature, harmony with the past, and harmony with change.

Harmony with One Another: A Cultural Oasis

Sevilma Olive Grove is not only a farm, but also a cultural oasis…

The stone building at the heart of Sevilma, the Ercan Baba Olive Oil Mill, reflects the local architecture of the Aegean. However, this is not merely a production facility; it is a vibrant communal space where guests gather, children play and visitors immerse themselves in nature.

We have begun transforming our factory into a living olive oil library. Here, our visitors can sample oils produced from different olive varieties grown in the Aegean and learn about Turkey’s only Slow Food Presidium olive oil.

Every autumn, the residents of the Seferihisar Orhanlı Valley come together to harvest olives. In this way, Orhanlı’s traditional knowledge and stories about olive cultivation are passed down from generation to generation. Filled with joy and a spirit of solidarity, this period offers a unique experience for those wishing to witness the traditional olive harvest first-hand.

Harmony with Nature and the Past: Slow Food Presidium Olive Oil

The Sevilma Olive Grove is no ordinary agricultural area. It is a cultural and natural heritage site home to extraordinary olive trees—with wild roots and domesticated branches. We do not use any chemical pesticides here, nor do we plough the soil. Sheep, goats and wild animals roam freely amongst the olive groves.

This unique, ancient production basin—of which the Sevilma Olive Grove forms a small part—covers vast areas in the western reaches of the Orhanlı Valley. This rare and endangered olive production system was inscribed on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2023.

It is within this unique Aegean ecosystem that Turkey’s only Slow Food Presidium olive oil is produced. The Slow Food Presidium protects food products at risk of extinction and encourages cooperation amongst producers. The Ercan Baba Olive Oil Factory, which serves as Sevilma’s production facility, is the only facility in Turkey dedicated to producing and preserving the Aegean’s Presidium olive oils.

Adapting to Change: A Model for the Future of Agriculture

Over the past 50 years, a large proportion of the ancient olive-growing regions have been lost due to abandonment. These areas are now also under threat from unplanned development and mining. Sevilma Olive Grove is working to reverse this trend by reviving traditional systems whilst also adopting modern agroecological principles.

This ancient production basin is not only a cultural and natural heritage site, but also offers potential solutions to the challenges facing the world of the future. How can scarce water resources be used most efficiently under the pressure of climate change? How can soil fertility be increased in harmony with nature? What are the social and economic models required to sustain fair production?

These agroecological production areas in the Aegean, which date back thousands of years, offer simple answers—answers that have worked sustainably for millennia—to the complex questions we face today. The question today, however, is this:

Will we be able to continue what has been sustainable up to now?

The Slow Food Farms Movement in Turkey

The recognition of Sevilma as Turkey’s first Slow Food Farm is just the beginning. Across Turkey, Slow Food communities, producers, scientists and local people have come together to establish a network of farms based on local culture and agroecological knowledge. The Sevilma Olive Grove team is also one of the facilitators of this process.

At an online meeting held in April 2025, a shared vision for Slow Food Farms in Turkey was established and concrete steps were taken:

• A National Network of Local Facilitators has been established to provide guidance to new farms.
• The Slow Food Farms booklet and the Agroecology Guide have been translated into Turkish and made available to producers and local organisations.
• Applications for new farms have begun to be accepted nationwide, and new farms have been included in this network.
• The first event organised by Slow Food Farmers will take place in October 2025 in the Orhanlı Valley, at the Sevilma Olive Grove and the Seferihisar Nature School. This will be a farmer-to-farmer learning gathering.

Slow Food Farms are gradually expanding to protect Turkey’s local seeds, endemic olive trees, ancient culinary traditions and rich biodiversity.

As part of this global movement, our Sevilma Olive Grove will continue to produce, share and tell our story in order to contribute to a way of life in harmony with one another, with nature, with the past and with change… We hope that you, too, will become part of this collective effort we have built with nature and with one another.