Mediterranean-Style Diet Proposed as Response to Food Crisis

Mediterranean Diet Against Food Crisis

While climate change, wars and economic fluctuations occurring worldwide cause a food crisis, the Sustainable Nutrition and Food Security campaign announced by the United Nations (UN) aims to facilitate and sustain access to basic food. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched the Sustainable Nutrition and Food Security campaign in 2010. Within this framework, the objectives were to prevent food waste, eliminate famine and poverty, facilitate access to safe food, and leave the world in a habitable condition for future generations. When the FAO defined sustainable nutrition in 2010, it described it as 'easily accessible, economically appropriate and affordable, nutritionally adequate, healthy and safe, protecting the ecosystem and culturally easily acceptable, as well as compatible with biodiversity that sustains natural resources'.

Mediterranean diet meets the definition of the Food and Agriculture Organization

Dietitian Şevval Koçdemir, evaluating the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)'s "Sustainable Nutrition and Food Security" campaign, stated that the campaign aims to make access to basic food easy and sustainable. Dietitian Şevval Koçdemir said: "When we look at the FAO's definition, the Mediterranean diet meets the definition of sustainable nutrition. The Mediterranean diet is a sufficiently balanced and nutritious dietary model in terms of quality of life and healthy nutrition. In this diet model, nutritional diversity is seen with high levels of olive oil, seasonal vegetables and fruits, legumes, grains, oily seeds; moderate levels of dairy products, eggs, poultry, seafood; and low levels of red meat, saturated fat and sugary foods. It is important because it is a model that can meet the required intake levels in terms of nutrients and nutritional elements."