Department of Ecology and EconomicSustainable Development

1° INTERNATIONALC.I.I.S.C.A.M.CONFERENCEIINTERNATIONAL INTER-UNIVERSITY CENTRE FOR MEDITERRANEAN FOOD CULTURE STUDIES

New Frontiers in theMediterraneanfor Food Security

Mediterranean Diet and Well BeingFood Safety and QualityBiodiversity and Nutrition

4-5 December 2007Rector Hall, via Santa Maria in Gradi, 4 Viterbo

Under the High Patronage ofThe President of the Republic of ItalyITALIAN OFFICIAL WORLD FOOD DAY CELEBRATIONS 2007 The Right to Food

Under the Patronage ofThe City of ViterboThe Province of ViterboThe Agriculture Commission of the Region of LazioThe Chair of the Council of the Lazio Region The Ministry of Agriculture

FORUM ON MEDITERRANEANFOOD CULTURES

Italian Official CelebrationsWORLD FOOD DAY 2007

National Institute for Researchon Food and Nutrition

Nutrition and ConsumerProtection Division

in cooperation with

The CIISCAM - Interuniversity International Centre forMediterranean Food Cultures Studies - has been esta-blished on 25 July 2006 by the Sapienza University ofRome, the University of Calabria, the University of GranCanaria, the University of Parma and the University ofTuscia. Its administrative office is at the SapienzaUniversity of Rome.

The Centre has the scope to gather together a whole ofdifferent competences in the study of the Mediterraneandiet, as an expression of a style of life in continue evolu-tion, and to function as a stable link between the multi-ple facets of the Mediterranean food system.

The Centre will operate as a multidisciplinary and multi-cultural structure of liaison among participants withthe purpose to develop an interuniversity internationalnetwork open to collaborations with research institu-tes, the food system (production, transformation,distribution, etc.), and the international agencies of theUnited Nations.

The CIISCAM has the aim to study and to adavanceMediterranean food cultures as a primary heritage forthe food security in the Mediterranean and the achieve-ment of a balanced nutritional well being.

OBJECTIVES:- To promote, realize and coordinate researches in the

field of food science, with particular regards to Mediterranean food cultures;

- To foster cooperation among participant universities and research institutes, consortiums and industriesthat work in this field, at national and international levels;

- To start initiatives of training, scientific disseminationand interdisciplinary collaboration;

- To set up collaboration agreements with other research groups.

CIISCAM intends to deepen the knowledge on theMediterranean diet and its evolution throughout time inorder to widen the dialogue among different culturesthat have in food a common root.

Within the Italian Official Celebration of the World FoodDay 2007, the First International CIISCAM Conferencewill be held on December 4 - 5, 2007, at the Universityof Tuscia, Viterbo (Rome), Italy.The conference is co-organized by the CIISCAM, and

Department of Ecology and Economic SustainableDevelopment of the University of Tuscia, in cooperationwith INRAN, Bioversity International, FAO Nutrition andConsumer Protection Division and Forum onMediterranean Food Cultures. CIISCAM puts forward the Mediterranean food culture- with its manifold variety - as a process of growth,dialogue and progress towards the achievement of abalanced 'nutritional well-being' in the entireMediterranean region.The 1° International CIISCAM Confernce intends toserve to re-launch THE 2005 ROME CALL FOR A

COMMON ACTION ON FOOD IN THE MEDITERRANEANin direction of the creation in the 2010 of theEuroMediterranean Free Trade Area. It has also thepurpose to carry forward a set of common actions,in direction to the countdown of 2010INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF BIODIVERSITY with thecommon aim to reduce the increasing erosion ofthe diversity of Mediterranean food cultures heritage. In the Exposition Hall of the Rectorate, it will be pla-ced THE ARK OF WELL BEING, a pavilion curated byPlexus International. It will present the Act VII of itstravelling event “EROSIONS AND RENAISSANCESHOW”, addressed to raise more international aware-ness on the increasing sea erosion of the Door of NoReturn of the House of the Slave of Goree, inSenegal, as symbol of the all forms of erosions thatare dramatically increasing in the living planet.

CIISCAMINTERUNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR MEDITERRANEAN FOOD CULTURES STUDIES

SCIENTIFIC CONCIL CIISCAM

Director Carlo Cannella, Sapienza University of Rome

Davide Cassi, University of Parma

Lluis Serra Majem, University of Las Palmas of Gran Canaria

Nicolò Merendino, University of Tuscia

Vito Teti, University of Calabria

Sandro Dernini, Forum on Mediterranean Food Cultures

1° INTERNATIONAL CIISCAM CONFERENCE

In the last decade, the role of nutrient and non nutrientcompounds present in the diet in the prevention ofdiseases and on the other side, the role of toxic com-pounds that could lead to risks for human health, hasemerged ever more clearly. In addition, a number ofnew approaches and several criteria to improve the tra-ceability of food products and to regain consumersconfidence in the food industry were developed.Principles of food safety control should be good hygie-nic practices, HACCP principles, microbiological criteria,temperature limits. Essential point should be consumereducation and information. Major challenges in the foodsafety area include risks from zoonoses, food-borneoutbreaks and chemical risks. Scientific issues need tobe contextualized within the daily cycle of farm to forkand a comprehensive analysis of the relationship bet-ween food consumption, food production and the emis-sion of greenhouse gases is needed so as to promotefood consumption patterns which are not only safe, ofhigh quality but also with a low environmental impact.Food should be safe and have an adequate nutritionalcomposition to be considered of high “quality”; this isan important requirement for human, economic andsocial growth and progress. The quality of food pro-ducts is determined by their external characteristicssuch as size, shape, flavour, appearance and product

presentation, and by their internal characteristics suchas taste, texture, nutritional composition values. Anumber of age-related human pathologies such asheart disease, cancer, inflammation are correlated tocellular damage by free radicals and the antioxidantsability to neutralize active oxygen species, dangerousfor health, therefore appears of greatest importance.The distribution of bioactive molecules, typical of eachspecies, is due to intrinsic factors (synthesis and regu-lation pathways controlled by a set of peculiar enzy-mes) and extrinsic factors (season, climate conditions,cultural practices, food processing). In the last deca-des, there has been a development of new agriculturalpractices, storage conditions of foods and technologi-cal processes. On the other hand, lifestyle and habitualfood consumption are changing. Quality should beidentified as the valorization of traditional agriculturalpatrimony, rural and mountain community, of peculiarcultivation, of incomparable typical products. It isessential, in fact, to obtain certified products and there-fore to provide the consumer with quality, security andauthenticity in particular with respect to the regionalorigin. Biodiversity has become an essential prerequisi-te for the preservation of ecosystems and species andfor maintenance of food security and a correct nutri-tional plane.

The Mediterranean way of eating, typical of peopleliving along the Mediterranean coasts during the early'60s, was represented by a moderate diet based oncereals, vegetables, legumes (beans), fruit, fish, lowintake of animal fats and products, wine (usuallydrunk moderately during the meals) and virgin oliveoil as the main source of added fats. In the sameperiod in those regions, the adult populations displa-yed rates of chronic diseases that were among thelowest in the world and life expectancies among thehighest (WHO, Keys). Such favourable health stati-stics are not easily explained by the social economicstatus or health care, rather low or poor in thoseregions in that period compared with those of moreindustrialized countries. Thus, the attention has focu-sed on the diet as the explanatory factor and it wasassumed that the diet is an important risk factor forchronic diseases.Since after the Seven Countries Study (SCS) theMediterranean eating pattern has been popularisedas the “Mediterranean Diet” (MD) capable to preventcoronary heart disease (CHD) as well as to reduce therisk for some cancer (C), two of the most active kil-lers for human beings. The confirmation of this beneficial effect on the health

is given by the fact that the progressive giving up ofthis diet goes together with an increase of mortalityfor CHD and cancer in the Mediterranean population.On the other hand, it has been observed that anincreasing consumption of fruits and vegetables,associated to a reduction of wine consumption (tomoderate levels), results in a decrease of mortalityfor cerebrovascular disease (CVD).Which are the healthy factors of the MD? The ove-rall low-animal fat and high vegetables intakes thatcharacterize the MD seem to be the main factorsthat act positively on the health. Among nutrientsthe most effective are the MUFA, i.e. oleic acid deri-ved mostly from olive oil, which is recognized toreduce the mortality for the cited pathologies, andthe dietary fibre present in cereals, beans andvegetables. Successively, several bioactive molecules, with antio-xidant capacity, have been discovered in foods largelypresent in the Mediterranean Diet, such as vegetablesand fruits, wine and extra virgin olive oil. The activityof these molecules also play a relevant role in preven-ting CHD, Cancer and CVD.

MEDITERRANEAN DIET AND WELL BEING

FOOD SAFETY AND FOOD QUALITY

1° INTERNATIONAL CIISCAM CONFERENCE

The health of people depends upon a variety of fac-tors, but first and foremost is a diverse and balan-ced diet. Biodiversity contributes to this at threelevels-genes, species and ecosystems. In the Mediterranean region, varietal differences -the level of the genes -- have long been appreciated.Research has shown significant within-species diffe-rences in nutrients and bioactive non-nutrients, andorganoleptic characteristics. Consumers have anappreciation of the varietal differences inMediterranean grapes and wine, olives and olive oil,citrus fruits, tomato cultivars, and more. In agricul-ture, information at the gene level can be used inbreeding programs to enhance the nutrient contentof more commonly used varieties, eliminating theneed for transgenic modifications. In trade, specificfood composition data is used in promotions, sincemost potential export markets for unique speciesand cultivars require or encourage nutrient composi-tion data for food labels and point-of-purchase mate-rials. And for the environment sector, knowledge ofnutrients and other bioactive components helps tovalue neglected varieties and species, encouragingtheir sustainable use within unique ecosystems.

The traditional Mediterranean diet, as studied in the1950s to 1960s in the South of Europe, is characteri-zed by intakes that contain moderate energy, lowanimal fat, high olive oil, high cereals, high legumes,nuts, fruits and vegetables, and regular and modera-te wine. While numerous epidemiological studieshave supported the concept that adherence to thetraditional Mediterranean diet is beneficial forhealth, and particularly protects against cardiova-scular disease, more studies are needed to demon-strate additional benefits, e.g., on the immunesystem. More and better data on the composition ofMediterranean foods, their consumption in the con-texts of ecosystems, will allow better evaluation ofdietary intake studies and nutritional epidemiologyresearch. Biodiversity at all levels is fundamental to food as ahuman right. Quantity of food, and its quality, inclu-ding nutritional quality and cultural acceptability,are explicit within that right. Food biodiversity ser-ves many purposes and sectors, not just the healthsector, but also agriculture, trade and the environ-ment - and is a keystone to well-being in its broa-dest sense, both human and environmental.

SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY OF ROME RECTOR HALL

2005YEAR OF THE MEDITERRANEAN

2005 CALL OF ROMEFOR A COMMON ACTION ON “FOOD” IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

On the Decennial of the Barcelona Declaration

DIALOGUES BETWEEN CIVILIZATIONS AND PEOPLE:THE FOOD CULTURES30 September - 1 October2005, Rector Hall, SapienzaUniversity of Rome

By being conscious that in the Mediterranean there is aspread awareness of the social, cultural, health and eco-nomic interdependent dimensions of 'food', shared by allMediterranean people,we strongly recommend :

1 To fully acknowledge “food” as a pivotal element in the

development of the future actions of the EuroMedPartnership, for its central and strategic cross-cuttingdimension through the Declaration of Barcelona, withparticular regard on the three social, cultural and humandimensions of the Euro¬-Mediterranean partnership;

2 To fully acknowledge “food” as a common ground inthe Mediterranean to increase the intercultural and inter-religious dialogue between civilizations and peopletowards mutual understanding and social cohesion;3) To fully acknowledge “food” as a vehicle for learningabout diversity and transmitting knowledge of the other;

4 To fully acknowledge the right for everybody to eataccording to their own beliefs;5 To consider “food” as a “total social fact” as well as animportant element to be account for the dialogue and socialcommunication in the Mediterranean area and abroad;

BIODIVERSITY AND NUTRITION

3° EURO-MEDITERRANEAN F O R U M

1° INTERNATIONAL CIISCAM CONFERENCE

6 To act together to revitalize local capacities to reducethe increasing erosion of the diversity of Mediterraneanfood cultures heritage as well as to reinforce the sustai-nability of the agro-food systems of all Mediterraneancountries and the food security in the entire region; 7 To make operative the commitment of the launchingof the Euro-Mediterranean dialogue platform on ruralsustainable development as well as the experience ofthe LEADER program in the Mediterranean towardsresources conservation and valorisation;8 To sustain research in the field of cultural processesand transformations; 9 To give more attention to the cultural and historicalaspects of “food culture” and to their articulation in dif-ferent geographical, environmental, historical, ecologi-cal, cultural, religious contexts, within a dynamic pro-spective of long term, and also from an actual perspec-tive, including industrial promotion, biotechnology pro-cesses, etc.; to give more attention to the evolution ofproduction, consumption and marketing ofMediterranean Diet products; to give more attention tocultural tourism and farm-holiday in each country andthrough twinning agreements; 10 To reinforce the joint creation of commonMediterranean cultural products (books, expositions,festivals, movies, events, etc.) to be used inMediterranean territories and abroad as well as to sup-port common scientific initiatives in the field of foodcultures and Mediterranean Diet and the disseminationof their result;11 To rediscover the “pleasure” of food and convivialityas a way to “be together” in a Mediterranean way;12 To launch a food culture “re-education” project foran effective action in the schools of all Euro-Mediterranean Partnership countries with particularregards to gastronomic and convivial levels, and orien-ted not only to nutrition education;

13 To reinforce training activities specially for the trai-ners; to reinforce the exchange of experiences betweenstudents from different Mediterranean schools and uni-versities; to reinforce the attention to young genera-tions and to the evolution of their Mediterranean styleof life, through media, schools, universities, and sport; 14 To sustain in the future of the EuroMed dialoguethe creative process of the interaction of science, artand technology;15 To have not a “mythical” consideration of theMediterranean past, in which to transfer artificially theactual interests, building a kind of “Arcadia” and forget-ting all difficulties about food achievement and tran-sformation in the Mediterranean area; 16 To sustain the Mediterranean Diet as a resourceand a possibility of renaissance in “acculturated” oreconomically agricultural depressed areas, taking partof the processes, and avoiding to become a simple“receptor” of globalized food manufactures; 17 To remember that the ancient Greek word “diaita”means equilibrium, lifestyle. Therefore, the traditionalMediterranean diet is more than just a diet; it is a wholelifestyle pattern with physical activity playing an impor-tant role;18 To take into account the intense scientific activityof the last decades that has significantly contributed tothe understanding of the relationship between nutritionand health. The health benefits of the dietary traditionsof the Mediterranean populations have contributed tothe acceptance of the Mediterranean Diet as a healthydietary model, also for the prevention of non-communi-cable diseases and obesity;19 To establish a common definition of the traditionalMediterranean Diet (equivalent to Mediterranean Foodor Food Culture) as a priority, in order for allMediterranean countries to present a common per-spective and strategy. The definition should refer to the

traditional Mediterranean Diet preserving cultural inhe-ritance. Main foods included in the common basket are:in high amounts olive oil and olives, fruits, vegetables,cereals (mostly unrefined), legumes, nuts and fish,moderate amounts in dairy products (preferably chee-se and yogurt), and low quantities of meat and meatproducts. Wine in moderation is acceptable when is notcontradictory by religious and social norms. But theidiosyncrasy of the pattern is not only a list of foods(some traditional) but also its sustainability (mostlyfresh and seasonally and locally grown) and prepara-tion according to traditional recipes and the way andcontext of eating them, that are also key componentsof the Mediterranean Diet. It is emphasized thatMediterranean Diet is complete and does not need anykind of supplement or enrichment unless recommen-ded for health reasons;20 To take into account that traditional MediterraneanDiet besides its health implications also has culturaland economic implications, therefore all Mediterraneancountries need to agree and contribute to the processof preservation and promotion. To start the process ofthe recognition of the Mediterranean Diet Food CulturalHeritage behind the UNESCO, as an initial and sharedcommon position to be coordinated from the Barcelonacounterpart as an extension of the 1995 BarcelonaDeclaration, in collaboration with all the Mediterraneancountry representatives;21 To consider that the global scenery in which is pla-ced the complex reality of the Mediterranean, with itsinterdependent issues, requires an interdisciplinaryand intercultural rethinking able to express a new para-digm of development for the Mediterranean;

22 To strengthen the initiative of the Euro-Mediterranean Forum on Food Cultures to continue tofoster its interdisciplinary networking dialogue towardsthe envisaged road-map for the creation of the FreeTrade Area by 2010. To support its effort to develop athematic interdisciplinary network on "Agriculture,Food and Culture", with a joint “portal” website, to shareexperiences, researches and data;

23 To launch also a EuroMed PLAN D (Dialogue,Debate, Democracy) to strengthen, as done for the EU'sfuture, the current debate about the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and its future, in which“food”, with its pivotal cross cutting role, through thethree dimensions of the Plan D, could be fully ackno-wledged within the objective to build a new EuroMedpolitical consensus towards the challenges of the 21stCentury; 24 To take into high consideration that young peopleare becoming in Southern and Eastern Mediterraneancountries the highest majority of the population.

Upon these recommendations,

IN THE YEAR OF THE MEDITERRANEAN, WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN WITH US IN THIS CALL FOR A COMMON ACTIONTO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PIVOTAL ROLE OF “FOOD” IN THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL SUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENT OF THE FUTURE ACTIONS OF THE EURO-MEDITERRANEAN PARTNERSHIP

Sapienza University of Rome, October 1, 2005

2005 CALL OF ROME FOR A COMMON ACTION ON “FOOD” IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

MARTEDÌ, 4 DICEMBRE, 2007

Ore 15.30 APERTURA DEI LAVORIMarco Mancini, Rettore dell'Università della TusciaGiancarlo Gabbianelli, Sindaco di ViterboAlessandro Mazzoli, Presidente della Provincia di ViterboDaniela Valentini, Assessore all'Agricoltura della Regione Lazio

Ore 16.15 PRESENTAZIONE DEL C.I.I.S.C.A.M.- CENTRO INTERNAZIONALE INTERUNIVERSITARIO DI STUDI SULLE CULTURE ALIMENTARI MEDITERRANEE

IntroduceNicolò Merendino, Università della Tuscia

PresentaCarlo Cannella, Direttore CIISCAM, Sapienza Università di Roma; Presidente INRAN

Ore 17.00 DIETA MEDITERRANEA E BENESSERE

IntroduceLluis Serra Majem, CIISCAM, Università di Las Palmas de Gran Canaria;Presidente Fondazione Dieta Mediterranea, Barcellona

IntervengonoAlfonsina Bellio, CIISCAM, Università della CalabriaMaria-Manuel Valagão, INRB - Instituto Nacional de Recursos Biológicos, LisbonaRekia Belansen, Chouaib Doukkali University, El Jadida, MaroccoDenis Lairon, INSERM / INRA, MarsigliaAlessandro Pinto, Sapienza Università di RomaRidha Mokni, National Institute of Nutrition and Technology, TunisiAmleto D’Amicis, INRAN, RomaDavide Cassi, CIISCAM, Università di Parma

Ore 19.00 SALA ESPOSIZIONI - INAUGURAZIONE PADIGLIONE ESPOSITIVO EATING ART - L' ARCA DEL WELL BEING" a cura di PLEXUS INTERNATIONALCOCKTAIL con gelato all'azoto a cura dello chef Fabio Toso

P R O G R A M M A

MERCOLEDÌ, 5 DICEMBRE, 2007

Ore 9.00 SICUREZZA ALIMENTARE E QUALITÀIntroduconoGülden Pekcan, Hacettepe University, AnkaraGiuseppe Maiani, INRAN, RomaIntervengonoRosangela Marchelli, Università di Parma Catherine Leclerq, INRAN, RomaLorenzo Maria Donini, Sapienza Università di RomaNicolò Merendino, Università della Tuscia Paolo Sequi, CRA, RomaGiuditta Perozzi, INRAN, Roma

Ore 11.00 BIODIVERSITÀ E NUTRIZIONEIntroduceBarbara Burlingame, FAOIntervengonoEnrico Porceddu, Università della Tuscia; Accademico dei LinceiPablo Eyzaguirre, Bioversity InternationalMichael Halewood, Bioversity International

Ore 12.15 LE NUOVE FRONTIERE PER LA SICUREZZA ALIMENTAREIntroduceSandro Dernini, CIISCAM, Forum sulle Culture Alimentari MediterraneeIntervengonoGianni Tomassi, Università della TusciaFabrizio Oleari, Ministero della SaluteMaurizio Ceci, Ministero Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali

Ore 13.15 CONCLUSIONICarlo Cannella, Direttore CIISCAM, Sapienza Università di Roma; Presidente INRAN