The Mediterranean region is undergoing a 'nutrition transition' away from an ancient diet long considered a model for healthy living and sustainable food systems, that preserve the environment and empower local producers.
A new report by FAO and the International
Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) presented at EXPO
Milano on 11 June traces the negative effects of shifting diet patterns across the
Mediterranean and calls for an action program to support more sustainable diets
across the region
Globalization, food marketing and changing
lifestyles - including changes in the roles women play in society - are
altering consumption patterns in the Mediterranean, away from fruits and
legumes towards more meat and dairy products, according to the report.
While Southern Mediterranean countries
continue to struggle with undernutrition, countries throughout the region
increasingly struggle with obesity and overweight.
At the same time, the region as a whole is
seeing a rise in chronic diet-based diseases that increasingly lead to
disability and death.
Undernutrition is still a significant
problem in the southern Mediterranean, as is stunting -- low height for age --
among children under five years of age in both southern and eastern
Mediterranean countries.
June 11's report presentation was part of
Feeding Knowledge, the EXPO program for cooperation on research and innovation
on food security.
A model diet, a changing landscape
The Mediterranean diet's focus on vegetable oil, cereals, vegetables and pulses, and moderate intake of fish and meat, has long been associated with long and healthy living. Because it is largely plant-based, the diet is comparatively light on the environment, requiring fewer natural resources than animal production.
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| Image: Julia Maudlin |
The Mediterranean diet's focus on vegetable oil, cereals, vegetables and pulses, and moderate intake of fish and meat, has long been associated with long and healthy living. Because it is largely plant-based, the diet is comparatively light on the environment, requiring fewer natural resources than animal production.
"The Mediterranean diet is nutritious,
integrated in local cultures, environmentally sustainable and it supports local
economies," said Alexandre Meybeck, Coordinator of FAO's Sustainable Food
Systems Program.
"This is why it's essential that we
continue to promote and support it."
But with products being increasingly sourced
from outside the region and diverse local landscapes being transformed by
monoculture production, traditional food systems are affected by these shifting
dietary habits.
Estimates suggest that today only 10
percent of traditional local crop varieties are still being cultivated across
the region, with a wide variety of traditional crops having been replaced by a
limited number of improved non-native crops.
Tourism, urban development, depletion of
natural resources and a loss of traditional knowledge all contribute to a rapid
diminishing of genetic diversity in crops and animal breeds across the
Mediterranean, the report warns.
Action needed
Policy makers, researchers and the food industry need to increase collaboration to better understand food systems and trends, the report says.
Policy makers, researchers and the food industry need to increase collaboration to better understand food systems and trends, the report says.
More attention needs to be paid to
increasing food consumption and production in ways that preserve local
resources and knowledge.
And awareness campaigns are needed to drive
up consumer demand for traditional Mediterranean products, with an eye on
better integrating current food trends and consumer habits with the use of
local products across the region.
In support of such goals, CIHEAM has issued
the Med Diet EXPO Call to Action, calling for efforts to preserve Mediterranean
agro-ecosystems, make the region's food systems more sustainable, and ensure
food security and nutrition for a growing population.
Together towards more sustainable food systems
FAO and CIHEAM - a group of 13 countries cooperating in the fields of agriculture, food, fisheries and rural territories in the Mediterranean - are jointly working to increase international understanding of how to make Mediterranean diets more sustainable.
FAO and CIHEAM - a group of 13 countries cooperating in the fields of agriculture, food, fisheries and rural territories in the Mediterranean - are jointly working to increase international understanding of how to make Mediterranean diets more sustainable.
The collaboration aims to develop local
case studies on ways to increase production sustainably and promote adherence
to traditional diet patterns.
The report also calls for a three-year
pilot project in CIHEAM countries, to be developed together with FAO, along
with special guidelines for improving the sustainability of diets in the
Mediterranean.
It is the product of collaboration between
CIHEAM and the FAO/UNEP Sustainable Food Systems Program.
Visit the FAO website HERE.
Visit the FAO website HERE.
The Global Miller
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