As part of the eighth annual Week of Italian Cuisine in the World, the Embassy of Italy in Washington hosted the workshop ‘Sustainability efforts of the swine meat products and olive oil industries, key ingredients of the Italian table,’ organized in collaboration with the American Italian Food Coalition, yesterday.
“Sustainable agriculture implies the search for a delicate balance between meeting today’s needs and preserving our planet for the future. Innovation and new technologies are effective tools for identifying new solutions, working together beyond borders and divisions between sectors.” With these words, Ambassador Mariangela Zappia opened the workshop, also highlighting the positive role that consumers can play by choosing dietary regimes such as the Mediterranean diet, “an expression of a nutritional culture based on education rather than prohibition.” The Ambassador also emphasized the candidacy of Italian cuisine as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.
In line with this, Ugo Della Marta, Director General of the Directorate for Hygiene, Food Safety, and Nutrition (DGISAN) of the Italian Ministry of Health, spoke. Referring to the EU Commission’s ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy aimed at increasing the sustainability of the European food system, DG Della Marta highlighted the role of institutions in encouraging collaboration among all stakeholders, ensuring maximum support for food systems based on sustainable development.
The event, with a focus on the olive oil and pork sectors, facilitated the sharing of experiences and the exchange of perspectives between Italian and U.S. producers, with the common goal of limiting the impact of production processes on the environment and, at the same time, raising the quality standards of the final product. ASSICA and the Istituto Valorizzazione Salumi Italiani (Institute for the Promotion of Italian Deli Meats) took the opportunity to present the sector of salumi (Italian cured meat products) and pork in Italy and the role their production plays in Italy’s agri-food sector, highlighting the work done by the two organizations in terms of exchanging good sustainability practices and encouraging companies to adopt virtuous business models.
Among the speakers who participated in the panels were Joseph R. Profaci, Director of the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA); Monica Malavasi, Director of the Istituto Valorizzazione Salumi Italiani; Davide Calderone, Director of ASSICA; Thomas Titus of the National Pork Producer Council; Marco Petrini, President of Monini North America; Lucy Calautti, Chairwoman of the American Italian Food Coalition.
