`International Foundation to Promote Mediterranean Diet - Olive Oil Times

International Foundation to Promote Mediterranean Diet

By Isabel Putinja
Nov. 28, 2014 12:14 UTC

An inter­na­tional foun­da­tion ded­i­cated to the pro­mo­tion of the Mediterranean diet has been cre­ated. The International Foundation of Mediterranean Diet (IFMeD) is reg­is­tered in London, UK and aims to bring together insti­tu­tions, uni­ver­si­ties, and research cen­ters from dif­fer­ent coun­tries as well as actors from the pri­vate sec­tor and con­sumers inter­ested in pro­mot­ing the Mediterranean diet.

Lluis Serra-Majem, chair­man of IFMeD states on the Foundation’s web­site, that despite the recog­ni­tion by UNESCO of the Mediterranean Diet as an intan­gi­ble cul­tural her­itage, the adher­ence to this dietary pat­tern has been falling down in some Mediterranean coun­tries as a con­se­quence of the eco­nomic con­straints Europe is fac­ing since 2008. It is there­fore essen­tial to enhance the Mediterranean Diet as a healthy and sus­tain­able life style [sic] model, adapt­ing it to cur­rent socio-eco­nomic and cul­tural changes, as well as pre­serv­ing and reaf­firm­ing it as an intan­gi­ble cul­tural her­itage of humankind.”

IFMeD aims to bring together mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary knowl­edge and exper­tise and act as a think tank to ana­lyze, val­i­date and dis­sem­i­nate rel­e­vant sci­en­tific stud­ies on the Mediterranean diet. The Foundation’s mis­sion state­ment points to the need for a transna­tional sci­en­tific guar­an­tor” which is above local and national inter­ests, in order to pro­mote the Mediterranean diet as a healthy and sus­tain­able lifestyle.

Sandro Dernini, the gen­eral sec­re­tary of IFMeD declared that there is a need for a new inter­dis­ci­pli­nary and inter­cul­tural rethink­ing for the revi­tal­iza­tion of the Mediterranean Diet. Therefore, IFMeD can be the ideal inter­na­tional place for pro­mot­ing this change by act­ing to recon­struct a sus­tain­able food cul­tural con­text for the Med Diet, more suit­able to the cur­rent times and for all peo­ple”.


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