Eating is a political act and an “act of love”: notes from the Italian Cuisine Week promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The seventh edition of “Italian Cuisine Week” has just come to an end. Launched by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the wake of Expo Milano 2015, the initiative was created to promote Italian food and wine excellence abroad through the network of Embassies, Consulates, Italian Cultural Institutes and ICE offices – the Italian Trade Agency for the promotion and internationalization of Italian companies.
This year, the Italian system showcased its agrifood heritage through more than 1,000 initiatives in over 100 countries, involving stakeholders from across the entire supply chain: chefs, farmers, experts, scientists, startups, journalists, policy makers, young people, distributors, processors and producers.
As every year, the Future Food Institute supported this international journey, promoting the theme of the initiative: “Conviviality, sustainability and innovation: the ingredients of Italian cuisine for people’s health and the protection of the planet.” It did so in line with the values that guide our ecosystem and that closely reflect the spirit of this ministerial initiative.
Italian cuisine is, as French geographer Jean Brunhes, author of La géographie humaine, would say, about “incorporating a territory” with all its culture, memory in the Proustian sense, ecosystem, biodiversity, history, diplomacy, rituals, identity and natural resources, together with the responsibility to preserve them, especially in the context of the current climate crisis.
It is craftsmanship. It is the transmission of traditions. It is experimentation and innovation. It is health. It is caring about what we eat and, at the same time, about the person sitting across from us at the table, as Epicurus might have said.
Italy on a plate is all of this. The Future Food Institute drew on all these dimensions, packed the principles of Italian cuisine into its suitcase and set off for:
- Kazakhstan (Astana), where from November 12 to 15 we supported the Italian Embassy led by H.E. Marco Alberti;
- Germany (Berlin), where from November 15 to 16 we supported the Italian Embassy led by H.E. Armando Varricchio;
- United States (New York), where from November 16 to 18 we supported the Consulate General of Italy led by Minister Plenipotentiary Fabrizio Di Michele;
- Japan (Tokyo), where on November 17 we organized an event under the patronage of the Italian Embassy led by H.E. Gianluigi Benedetti;
- United Nations Headquarters (New York), where on November 18, together with the Municipality of Pollica, we organized an event promoted by the Italian Permanent Mission led by H.E. Maurizio Massari.
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In New York, together with our Permanent Mission at the United Nations Headquarters, we celebrated Italian Cuisine as a powerful vehicle for spreading the Mediterranean Diet around the world.
It was a moment of enormous significance that marked the conclusion of Italy’s year-long presidency of the Network of UNESCO Emblematic Communities of the Mediterranean Diet, chaired by Stefano Pisani, Mayor of the Municipality of Pollica.
“The conference organized at the United Nations was essential in highlighting the richness of the Mediterranean Diet as Intangible Cultural Heritage and as a genuine cultural framework for development, encompassing all the values and priorities set out in the 2030 Agenda.
It is a model deeply rooted in history — our history — yet strongly oriented toward the future. The integral ecological approach that characterizes the Mediterranean Way of Life is expressed concretely through regeneration and sustainable development policies aimed at improving the health of local communities and protecting resources and territories.
It represents a starting point for creating new connections toward increasingly sustainable development, strengthening strategic alliances and expanding its reach at both national and international levels.”
