“Food Education: The Culture of taste” is the theme of the Fourth edition of the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World (18-24 November) which opened today at the Embassy of Italy in Washington.
The Week of Italian Cuisine in the World is promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation involves the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, the Ministry of Education, University and Research and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, in addition to all the main entities, associations and institutions representing Italian cuisine and Italy in the world.
The goal of the initiative, which involves, in coordination with the Embassy, the Italian Consulates in the USA, the offices of the Italian Trade Agency, the Italian Cultural Institutes, is the promotion of quality Italian cuisine and food products through seminars and conferences, photo exhibitions, film screenings, meetings with chefs and cooking classes, tastings and dinners.
More than 70 events, organized by the network of Italian institutions in the Capital, in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco, are scheduled in the United States. All across America discussions will focus on current issues such as food sustainability, the right to food, the Mediterranean Diet, health and food safety in the wake of EXPO 2015. But also on food culture, territories and biodiversity, products with a protected and controlled denomination, and the phenomenon of “Italian sounding”.
The events in Washington include a seminar with Amy Riolo for university and high school students, a scientific conference dedicated to the theme of nutrition in cooperation with Georgetown University, a photographic exhibition by Antonio Gibotta, a screening of a documentary dedicated to Gualtiero Marchesi and a panel discussion on food in space in collaboration with NASA, the National Air and Space Museum and the Italian company Argotec. The week will end with a Gala dinner at the Residence of the Ambassador of Italy with chef Giancarlo Morelli.
Ambassador Armando Varricchio emphasized “the importance of the Italian Cuisine week as an exceptional platform for the promotion of Italian culinary, food and wine traditions, distinctive characteristics of the Italian identity and culture. The many events organized in the USA – continued the Ambassador – will allow us to promote the quality of Italian agricultural products on the American market, illustrate the benefits of the Mediterranean diet and a healthy nutrition and fight the phenomenon of Italian sounding in a crucial phase for the Italian export of the sector, following the imposition of tariffs by the USA”.
