Unesco. The Mediterranean Diet: from poor to luxurious food

The Mediterranean diet calms the ever-quarrelling politicians, who approve a bipartisan proposal to let it be a world immaterial heritage of Unesco; but it doesn’t fit the Italian economy anymore. In fact, it has become a diet for rich people even if it was poor food in the years after the war. Luxurious food because of the price increase. Italians have been beaten over all by the price increase of bread and pasta, key- protagonists of the Mediterranean diet made in Italy, but this situation influences also the prices of fruit and vegetables. Istat data are clear : in May food prices ran fast, first of all pasta. Penne and spaghetti increased 20,7% compared to May 2007. The price of bread increased 13,3% pro year while even the prices of fruit are increasing more and more( +6,9%); the prices of vegetables are stopping, instead. This alarm was launched by the Wall Street Journal on the occasion of the FAO meeting about food security. “The poorest among the Italians eat as the poor Americans did”. This is confirmed also by Carlo Cannella, President of the National Institute of Food and Nutrition Research, according to which the Italians are progressively abandoning the Mediterranean life style, only to be found in the fair of villages. Six families out of ten changed their food habits last year, because of prices inputs. In the first three months of 2008 bread and pasta recorded a consumption decrease in Italy, respectively of 5,5% and 2,5%. Generally, there is also a stagnation in the quantities of the food product bought by the families (-0,4%).Things are not going better for vegetables( -,5%) and fruit ( -1,8%), other key-protagonists of the Mediterranean diet. From an economic point of view Italians’ shopping increased of 28% between 2000 and 2007 even if consumes decreased of 12,4%. Meanwhile the agricultural enterprises support the nomination of the Mediterranean diet as world immaterial cultural heritage. Bread, pasta, fruit, vegetables, extra-virgin and the traditional glass of wine regularly consumed in regular meals allowed the Italians to reach the record of longevity, with an average length of life certainly superior to the European standard. If the Mediterranean diet reaches this goal we can have a further improvement for our typical quality agriculture, composed for 50% of the whole by the food that is the basis of the Mediterranean diet. This diet has also an economic side with advantages for the system of our country. The protection of our diet-everybody says- is also an advantage for our enterprises that can ensure their positions on the world markets.