At the VII edition of the Food Journalism Festival, two important reports on media & food were presented: the report that measures how much food is talked about in the Italian media in 2022 (which monitored over 25.000 newspapers in the press, web, radio and television) edited by L 'Eco della Stampa and the new survey "Food and Nutrition" carried out by the Piepoli Institute to understand the real opinion of Italians on the same issues presented in the media carried out on a representative sample of 500 Italians one month after the outbreak of the conflict Russian-Ukrainian.
War and expensive food: the increases frighten
Among the first data presented, the surge (about + 50%) in the presence of food in the media starting from March 2022, coinciding with the outbreak of the war at the gates of Europe, stands out. From the meta-analysis of the report carried out by the Master “Food & Society” of the Milano Bicocca University, a clear change emerges in the themes linked to the story of food: now food is accompanied by geopolitical and energy issues and much less by household or lifestyle news. Reason why many non-sector journalists have started writing about food: in the ranking of the most active, the deputy editor of Corriere della Sera Fiorenza Sarzanini stands out. And if oil is the food that has seen the price increase the most, bread and pasta are the foods that have hit Italians' family finances the most (but more in the south than in the north).
Diets and health
The decline in all the media of the various types of diet is evident: the only one that resists is the Mediterranean one, which was talked about a lot since the outbreak of the pandemic while the one that most recurs related to words like "disease" and "disorder" is that ketogenic. Among the main pathologies related to food, the ones that worry most are obesity and alcohol abuse (the latter phenomenon feared much less by young people than by the over 55s). A fear that reflects a real problem: 53% of Italian women are overweight even if the biggest problem is that of Italian children, the most obese in Europe. Other eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, on the rise since the outbreak of the pandemic, make less news, finding much less space in the newspapers.
Events and food and wine tourism
Piedmont is the most cited region in the media dealing with food and nutrition although Tuscany, Sicily and Puglia are the three favorite destinations for a food and wine week. It is interesting to note how Trentino and Campania are paired.
