Today, 16 November 2021, we celebrate from Pollica, in Cilento, the 11th anniversary of the UNESCO recognition of the Mediterranean Diet as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
On this occasion, we invited a variety of speakers to take part in this important event.
The Mediterranean Diet is a heritage that belongs to everyone, and every actor, with their unique knowledge, has the opportunity to enhance it and tell its story.
The Mediterranean Diet has both cultural and political recognition.
Professor Pier Luigi Petrillo, Vice President of the World Experts Board of the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage, who was present during the negotiations that led to this recognition, says:
“This candidacy marks a watershed in the international context, because UNESCO had always believed that the concept of culture was incompatible with food.”
As we know, this has changed today, and the role and perception of food are changing as well.
Food, in fact, has an impact on many aspects of our daily lives.
Health Impact of Food and Diet
Food and diet have a direct impact on our health.
“Food has the power to change the composition of our microbiome present in our gut,” states Professor Danilo Ercolini, Director of the Department of Agriculture, University of Naples Federico II.
Feeding our microbiome properly can help prevent a range of illnesses.
The microbiome is composed of a vast variety of bacteria, many of which actually promote health.
“The Mediterranean Diet directly stimulates the creation of these specific bacteria,” explains Mauro Minelli, Clinical Immunologist, Foundation for Personalised Medicine.
This knowledge needs to move from the health sector into other fields of application, such as industry, which can draw inspiration from the Mediterranean Diet and develop foods accordingly.
Environmental Impact of Food and Diet
Food and diet also have a direct impact on the environment.
Marta Antonelli, Director of Research at the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition (BCFN) and Researcher at the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC), stressed during her session today the importance of the Mediterranean Diet for the environment, referring to the double pyramid of the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition.
A sustainable diet for humans, which helps us remain healthy, is also a sustainable diet for the planet.
Mediterranean Diet areas such as Cilento and Pollica are unique examples of biodiverse heritage that has endured for centuries.
The biodiversity of this area is protected by the parks and natural reserves found locally.
The Director of the National Park Vallo di Diano and Alburni, Romano Gregorio, also states:
“The Mediterranean Diet is not something static but something that must be enhanced, and this is the Park’s commitment. We are with you!”
Landscape Impact of Food and Diet
From the small scale to the large scale, our food and diets also have an impact on the landscape around us.
We would like to thank Ludovica Grompone, architect and engineer, Director of the Mig Mamei Museum in Gioi; Martina Bosone, Researcher at the Institute for Research on Innovation and Development Services (IRISS) of the National Research Council (CNR); and Angela D’Angelo, Municipal Councillor of Ascea, who actively advocate for their local territory, Pollica and the surrounding areas.
“A diet, in this case the Mediterranean Diet, also changes the land, and so we can think about new forms of land governance that promote this care of the land,” they affirmed today.
From rural areas at the local level to a broader scale, food can have an impact.
This is the challenge we are taking on together with UNIDO ITPO, with Andrea Carapellese, Investment Promotion Expert at UNIDO ITPO, to build resilient food systems in different parts of the world.
Celebrating the Mediterranean Diet
Celebrating the Mediterranean Diet today means not only remembering an important achievement, but also starting from this heritage to build a better future.
“The problem with recognitions is that they often tend to crystallize reality and are not the end point of the discourse, but rather the starting point. It means that you as a community have a huge responsibility, to disseminate and explain to the younger generations and governments that the way of life that characterizes the Mediterranean dispute is sustainable and affects conviviality, presupposes diversity.”
– Prof. Pier Luigi Petrillo, Vice President of the World Experts Board of the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage.
