The present role of the Mediterranean diet and the sustainable development of the Mediterranean food cultures
The initiative of the Forum on Mediterranean Food Cultures started in 2001 in Calabria, Italy. It has the underpinning purpose to highlight the importance of the Mediterranean food culture, with its diversities, for developing the human, cultural and social dimension of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.
The Forum, in direction of the creation in 2010 of the Free Trade Area in the Mediterranean region, is providing a permanent trans-sector and inter-cultural channel of open dialogue through which experiences from all Mediterranean countries can be shared with mutual benefit.
At the 3rd Forum, which will be held in the Fall 2004 in Calabria, the proposal of a Euro-Mediterranean Food Culture Platform of dialogue will be presented and the present role of the Mediterranean Diet as the catalyser of the rising interest towards Mediterranean Food Cultures.
The Mediterranean diet, with its multiplex levels of interests, should become the main player for a broader sustainable development of Mediterranean local capacities, strengthening the Mediterranean lifestyle to achieve good health and nutritional well being and to reduce the emerging trend of overweight and obesity. The proposal of a Euro-Mediterranean Food Cultures Platform has the purpose of identifying and carrying forward a set of common objectives and actions to create a critical mass of awareness, expertise, resources and political goodwill, necessary for the development of joint activities to reduce the increasingly rapid erosion of cultural and biological diversity in the Mediterranean. The EuroMed Food Culture Platform will also serve to increase the public understanding and awareness on the health, social, cultural and economic benefits of the Mediterranean diet.
At the 3rd Forum will be presented the Secretariat of the Network for the Advancement of Mediterranean Food Cultures, placed at the Institute of Food Services of the University of Rome "La Sapienza", as an outcome from the 2nd EuroMed Forum, organized by the Foundation Universitas Italica, in Corigliano Calabro, in the Fall 2003.
The Network aims at facilitating the development of joint training and innovation projects to advance the quality of diversified Mediterranean food traditional productions as well as to support educational and communication initiatives to increase diversified food consumption patterns.
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