The promise of an extended, healthy, blissful life, living an lively, community-based lifestyle under warm, sunny skies could also be within sight. In fact, it may very well be in your table.
The Mediterranean diet has been included on the UNESCO list On the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2010.Not only does the diet have guaranteed cultural value, but it is also a strong strategic tool for promoting food products corresponding to olive oil.
Often cited for its health advantagesThe Mediterranean diet was first described in 1953. book about creteAt the time, people were amazed at the low rate of heart problems amongst the inhabitants of this Greek island in comparison with the inhabitants of Northern Europe.
A diet based on olive oil helps, amongst other things: eating fresh foods, seasonal fruit and veggies, and whole grains. It embodies the essence of the Mediterranean lifestyle, as defined by UNESCO:
The Mediterranean diet features a set of skills, knowledge, rituals, symbols and traditions referring to cultivation, harvesting, fishing, animal husbandry, preservation, processing, cooking and, specifically, sharing and consuming food. Eating together is the basis of cultural identity and the continuity of communities throughout the Mediterranean basin. It is a moment of social exchange and communication, the confirmation and renewal of the identity of the family, group or community.
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But beyond its impact on our health, what does the Mediterranean diet say about us as a society? Could it be a symptom of something?
As a postdoctoral researcher at the École des sciences de la gestion at UQAM, my research focuses on problems with cultural heritage and tourism, food, and mental health.
In 2021 I accomplished field research in Cilento (Italy), Soria (Spain) and Marseille (France), where I observed the adherence of the inhabitants to the Mediterranean diet. I listened to their stories and tried to know the local and social dynamics in the context of the concept of the Mediterranean diet.
Reflection of a deep social crisis
The concept of the Mediterranean diet refers to a lifestyle that strengthens social relationships and is good for health. It sounds easy and coherent.
However, the society we live in turns the work of meeting these basic needs into something more complex. health and social dimension The Mediterranean diet is considered extremely desirable because it provides a balance that is lacking in globalized societies.
Claude Fischlersociologist of human nutrition, describes the multidimensional crisis of the food system in contemporary societies.
In his opinion, there is psychopathology of on a regular basis nutrition in progress. It is characterised by “eating disorders, bulimia attacks, anxious or compulsive snacking, etc.” Just consider the consumption of ultra-processed foods or ready-made and frozen meals, eaten alone in front of the TV in the evening or in front of the computer during a lunch break.
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In this psychopathological perspective of food, which also reflects the social crisis, the mechanisms of cultural (and on this case food) reactivation appear. The drive towards the Mediterranean diet is a mirrored image of this social crisis because it is the opposite of our lifestyle.
Thanks to its inclusion on the UNESCO List, the Mediterranean diet has turn out to be a prestigious “monument” of Mediterranean culinary art.
This culinary culture has been mythologized and has turn out to be a part of our heritage after the transition irreversible erosion process food production and consumption systems in the Mediterranean region.
“Gastronativism”: Politics on a Plate
The culinary sphere is certainly one of the best places to precise the anxieties and concerns about modern life.
Fabio Parasecolifood researcher describes the concerns about globalization as gastronomy“the ideological use of food in politics to promote ideas about who belongs to a given community (however defined) and who does not.”
Gastronativism is subsequently a political tool that gives a “sense of rootedness, comfort, and security” in the face of perceived decline (climate change, wars, pandemics, globalization).
The Mediterranean diet matches into this gastronomy approach, representing an appropriate lifestyle.
The different meanings of the Mediterranean diet
We often hear about the Mediterranean diet from institutions and scientists. What we don’t hear much about is the views of the communities that practice this manner of life.
My 2021 fieldwork aimed to know the other ways during which the Mediterranean diet is defined, described, understood, and implemented depending on the community.
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In Cilento, the Mediterranean diet is synonymous with “lifestyle.” It is a part of the local identity and a reference to a wider socio-cultural sphere (“our way of life,” the locals say).
In Soria, it embodies the “nutritional model” and in the health field: the adjectives most frequently used to explain it are “healthy”, “beneficial” and “health-conscious”.
In Marseille, the term “diet” conjures up images of fasting, renunciation and abstinence, while the term “Mediterranean” refers to organic, seasonal and healthy food. Here, the reference is more to the food industry.
Socio-cultural seismograph
Whether we understand it as a food model, a lifestyle or an example of intangible heritage, the Mediterranean diet is a way out of a system (social, food, economic, environmental) in crisis and consistently looking for points of reference.
Seismographs are devices that record and measure earthquakes.. Like a “sociocultural seismograph,” the Mediterranean diet allows us to capture the vibrations, i.e. the changes occurring in contemporary society that cultural (and dietary) practices must address.