Today the FAO hosts the conference “More than 2000 years of Mediterranean diet: a Journey from Ancient Romans to the UNESCO recognition in 2010. The cultural dimension of food”. The conference will open with contributions by the Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry, Elisabetta Belloni, and the Director General of the FAO, Qu Dongyu. Italy will present the project entitled “Mediterranean Diet’s principles for Agenda 2030”, a multi-day event focused on carrying out scientific studies, considerations and analyses on the Mediterranean Diet.
This initiative aims to promote and disseminate knowledge of the principles underlying the Mediterranean Diet, by highlighting the historical and cultural uniqueness of a culinary and agricultural production style that has spanned across the millennia to date. Indeed, for over 2000 years the Mediterranean Diet has represented a unique pool of knowledge, symbols, rituals and traditions ranging from the field of agriculture, to fishing, livestock breeding, food processing and cooking, also including the food sharing practices common to many peoples of the Mediterranean Basin. Thanks to its cultural value, the Mediterranean Diet was recognised to be “intangible human heritage” by UNESCO in 2010.
The series of events organised by Italy aims to highlight the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet to community health and wellbeing, to the environment and to the planet’s resources. The philosophy on which the Mediterranean Diet is founded is based on principles of sustainable development and healthy living habits and lifestyles, that can be promoted in different local and regional contexts beyond the confines of the Mediterranean.
The following days – dedicated to protecting biodiversity, respecting the environment, nutritional aspects, less food waste, the role of women – will contribute to prove the continuing scientific validity of the principles of the Mediterranean Diet according to the UN Agenda 2030 goals and the mission of the FAO to assure a sustainable agricultural and nutritional development model.