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People everywhere are more and more
aware of the fact that a healthy lifestyle
depends on a balanced diet, food
security and sustainable agricultural
development.
This is not a novel approach to nutrition;
on the contrary, in ancient times, the
quality of food was considered a vital
factor in the health and well-being of
civilizations.
Therefore, we need to guarantee
food sustainability, where this term
embraces a broad range of economic,
social and environmental components.
A sustainable diet means adopting a
twin-track approach designed to ensure
enhanced nutrition while guaranteeing
reduced consumption of natural
resources and lower CO
2
emissions. As
an example of a sustainable diet, FAO
cites the Mediterranean diet not only
as an excellent nutritional model, but
also as a means of promoting social
interaction and “biocultural diversity”.
“
Sustainable Diets are those diets with
low environmental impacts which
contribute to food and nutrition security
and to healthy life for present and
future generations. Sustainable diets are
protective and respectful of biodiversity
and ecosystems, culturally acceptable,
accessible, economically fair and
affordable, nutritionally adequate, safe
and healthy, while optimizing natural
and human resources.
”
FAO and Biodiversity International,
Sustainable Diets and Biodiversity
,
2010
Added to the List of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage of Humanity by
UNESCO in 2010, the Mediterranean
dietconstitutesasetofskills,knowledge,
practices and traditions ranging from
the land to the table, including crops,
harvesting, conservation, processing,
preparation
and,
particularly,
consumption of food. The associated
traditions are shared by neo-Latin
peoples, based on their common
cultural heritage, encompassing eating
habits and much more besides: for
centuries the Roman Empire unified
the entire Mediterranean region.
Today, this ancient influence is most
clearly evident in the inimitable Italian
arte di vivere
(art of living), where food
is directly linked to joie de vivre and
conviviality.