ROME:Access for all to healthy diets such as the Mediterranean diet is critical for achieving the Agenda 2030, and such diets must be protected and promoted. That was the main message at an event today organized by the Government of Italy with support from FAO aimed at deepening understanding of the Mediterranean diet and raising awareness on how it can help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
The event focuses on the origins, history, traditions and landscapes of the Mediterranean diet, and the principles on which it lies. It brings together Mediterranean diet-related experts ranging from anthropologists to nutritionists and representatives of Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UN agencies and academia.
Population growth, globalization, urbanization and economic pressures are all causing changes in our food systems, diets and consumption patterns. These lead, in turn, to unhealthy diets with worrying consequences on people’s health and lives, and countries’ economies.
FAO recognizes the importance of traditional and indigenous diets across the world, highlighting their benefits and supporting their protection. With funding from the Italian Government, FAO and Italy have been working on enhancing the adherence to the Mediterranean Diet in Lebanon and Tunisia. The knowledge gained through this work will be transferred into policy interventions to promote the Mediterranean Diet more broadly.
As part of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition, FAO, Italy and its partners will launch the Action Network – a group of UN agencies and member countries – to foster policy dialogue and enhance local action on traditional, healthy and sustainable diets.
The importance of traditional diets as a central element of cultural heritage is also reflected in the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems that FAO established in 2012, with two Italian landscapes – the Soave Traditional Vineyards and the Olive Groves of the Slopes between Assisi and Spoleto – recently added to the list of “outstanding landscapes of aesthetic beauty that combine agricultural biodiversity, resilient ecosystems and a valuable cultural heritage.”