Pollica Takes the Mediterranean Diet to the UN: First International Day Starts on November 16
From November 16 to 19, Pollica and Campania are in New York for the first International Day of the Mediterranean Diet, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly: then meetings, a masterclass and a day dedicated to schools.
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From November 16 to 19, Pollica and Campania will be in New York for the first International Day of the Mediterranean Diet, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly. The central celebration takes place on November 16 at the United Nations headquarters, organised by Italy's Permanent Representation together with those of Greece and Lebanon. In the following days come meetings with institutions and researchers, a masterclass by the Ambassadors of the Mediterranean Diet and, on November 19, a day dedicated to schools. The mission is led by Pollica's 'Angelo Vassallo' Study Centre, with the support of the Future Food Institute.
Pollica and Campania are taking the Mediterranean Diet to the UN. From November 16 to 19 the village in the Cilento area and the region will be in New York for the first International Day of the Mediterranean Diet, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly: Agenfood reports it in a dispatch from New York dated November 12. At the heart of the programme is the celebration on November 16 at the United Nations headquarters, organised by Italy's Permanent Representation to the UN together with the Representations of Greece and Lebanon.
According to the agency's account, the event brings the work of communities into a dialogue between diplomacy, science and culture, with the stated aim of opening opportunities for cooperation on food education, the protection of biodiversity and the future of local supply chains. Sixteen years after the UNESCO recognition, the International Day invites reflection on how to give continuity to a way of life that holds together what we eat, how we produce food and the relationships we build around the table. Seasonality, food variety, care for natural resources, waste prevention and conviviality feed a debate on public health and sustainability involving governments, schools, universities, businesses and citizens.
The body leading the mission is Pollica's Mediterranean Diet Study Centre 'Angelo Vassallo', which runs the Permanent Secretariat of the network of UNESCO Emblematic Communities; Pollica-Cilento is the Italian Emblematic Community. In New York the Centre brings the voice of the Ambassadors, the territories, hospitality operators, producers, farmers, fishers, cooks and families, with the backing of Campania's Regional Tourism Department and the support of the Future Food Institute. The agency also recalls that the FAO named the Pollica community a Food Hero 2026.
The four-day programme reads like this. On November 16 and 17, meetings at the United Nations and at Tomorrow Tastes Mediterranean bring together institutions, researchers, chefs and producers to connect the experience of territories with scientific research and advanced training in the culinary arts. At the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, mayor Stefano Pisani leads the session on the territories of the Mediterranean Diet, comparing Crete and Campania. On Wednesday, November 18, the mission is dedicated to cultural and gastronomic diplomacy: at 16:30 at the Italian Cultural Institute, a book presentation and the conversation 'The Mediterranean Diet – The Heritage of Heritages', then at 18:00 a masterclass in which the Ambassadors show how cavatelli are made. On Thursday, November 19, the delegation devotes the whole day to schools.
Explaining the sense of the mission is Pollica's mayor and the Study Centre's president, Stefano Pisani. "In Pollica we have made the Mediterranean Diet a strategic development model," the mayor says, calling it a responsibility renewed every time the municipality decides which farmland to protect, how to look after the sea and who should supply food for the school canteen. At the United Nations, he adds, they will bring "the voice of the families who have kept these trades alive".
Sara Roversi, founder and president of the Future Food Institute, also ties the theme to international dialogue: for her, the Mediterranean Diet teaches something about multilateralism, because countries with different languages and histories recognised themselves in a common heritage and chose to take care of it together. "For me, cultural diplomacy begins at the table," she adds, hoping that the New York meetings will produce ideas to take home, starting with the work with schools.
It is worth being clear about what this material is and is not: it is the announced programme of an institutional mission, told by the office organising it through a news agency, and not a scientific study nor a review of results. The source gives no attendance figures and no costs. For those following the topic, the network recently covered the Mediterranean Diet Festival in Brindisi, and on the travel side there is a guide for people travelling alone.