Diversity v. globalization: traditional foods at the epicentre.

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Colleagues, Today is one of the most important moments in my professional life and I am most grateful to all of you for sharing this with me. Globalization in food production and consumption is well recognized. I remember, some 10 years ago, when the respected newspaper Economist wanted to establish an index for PPP (the purchasing power parity); they used the price of an international commodity, the Big Mac of the MacDonald's company, as some sort of a standard. There is no denial that globalization is an ongoing process, unavoidable and, in some aspects, even desirable. It entails, however, some risks and disadvantages which can best be demonstrated by looking at the value and the fate of sustainable diets and traditional foods across the globe. But let us first review some terms. I will briefly refer to the terms diversity, globalization and traditional foods and the cross-cutting issue of sustainable diets. Next, I will consider the health effects of traditional foods and their role in protecting biodiversity. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), sustainable diets are those with low environmental impact which contribute to food and nutrition security and to healthy life for present and future generations. Ideally, sustainable diets are protective and respectful of biodiversity ; culturally acceptable, accessible and economically affordable; and nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy. Globalization refers to the increasing integration of the world's economy through the reduction of various barriers in international trade. Through globalization, regional economies, societies and cultures have become integrated by communication, transportation and trade. The term also applies to the international circulation of ideas and cultural aspects. Globalization is driven by a combination of economic , technological, socio-cultural and political factors. When I checked for a definition of biodiversity, I liked the following one: 'the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or the entire planet'. Let us now examine what we mean by traditional foods. According to the European Union EuroFIR project, 'traditional foods' refer to practices or specifications established prior to the Second World War (Fig. 1). The selected time limit 'prior to the Second World War' implies 'prior to the era of mass food production' and it delineates the period when most population groups still applied simple, time-honoured approaches. This is before the large-scale introduction of technological innovations that substantially altered food production processes. Patterns of food production …