In 2010, the Mediterranean Diet became part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO. It is increasingly widespread in the world, but it is slowing down in Italy, precisely in the country where it originated, where we risk losing the culture that the diet represents, overwhelmed by frenetic rhythms and loss of the value of human relationships. This is what emerged during the meeting dedicated to the theme during the Turin Food Journalism Festival, attended by Stefania Ruggeri di Crea, Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of the Agricultural Economy, Luca di Leo, manager media relations of the Barilla group and Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, president of the Univerde Foundation.
"We often forget that the Mediterranean diet - said Stefania Ruggeri - has a mainly vegetable basis, for this it has very little impact on the environment and therefore it is the diet that can save the planet". "To preserve the heritage of the Mediterranean diet - underlines Luca di Leo - Guido Barilla, president of the Group, in a recent interview with the Economist, he pointed out some of the most stringent interventions: the public sector must encourage sustainable agriculture, concretely contribute to reducing food waste and to improve the quality of nutrition, for example by promoting an effective and comprehensive labeling system to spread the consumption of healthy and controlled food ".
But as Pecoraro Scanio recalled “The Mediterranean diet is a lifestyle, which has to do with healthy eating, attention to the territory, taste for conviviality and healthy habits in general and is a symbol of inclusion: it starts from Italy but it is the glue of a network that must be international ".
