There is wide evidence that a correct diet is a source of health and longevity, although socioeconomic changes have led many people to eat poorly with serious risks and long-term costs. Hence, the convenience of returning to traditional food, simpler and healthier, but in danger of being lost due to the change in nutritional habits fostered by globalisation, is paramount. The purpose of Fair Food for a Smart Life project is to contribute to the improvement of health through a nutritional education inspired by the way our ancestors ate, with natural products, typical of the territory, treated in a simple way and consumed in its season, while contributing to preserve a European culinary cultural heritage and to stop climate change. The rich European gastronomic culture counts on the Mediterranean diet, an intangible heritage of Humanity. Disseminating these guidelines is a benefit for the entire population as well as for the environment. The consortium of this project, formed by 6 partners from 4 countries (Spain, Italy, Portugal and Belgium) among which are the maximum exponents of the Mediterranean diet, brings together universities, experts in the agro-food sector, consultants and educators, for a triple objective: - Identify and preserve ancestral knowledge about products and traditional modalities of production, conservation and consumption of food at risk of disappearing, in the regions of the project, as a way to preserve this cultural legacy. - Disseminate this knowledge among the population in general and especially among the youngest, through face-to-face and online training programs, and being present in social networks, with the collaboration of opinion leaders and influencers. - Encourage entrepreneurship and business continuity of this type in rural areas, respectful of the environment, to improve their appeal and competitiveness, attract and fix population. The consortium, led by the University of Malaga, which has a powerful faculty of Tourism very advanced in gastronomic studies, and with a prestigious Faculty of Medicine and a Faculty of Health Sciences, has 5 other partners: - IWS, ES, technological partner that will be responsible for the coordination, development and deployment of ICT resources. - University of Aveiro, PT, with experience in tourism teaching, will provide contents and also a powerful networking with the regional agro-food and hostelry sector in its country. - IDP SAS, IT, with experience in business training, will provide contents, dissemination support and training. - IHF asbl, BE, will provide contents, lead the quality assurance tasks and help in dissemination. - IES Almina, SP, high and VET school with training in fine cuisine, hospitality, tourism, nutrition and services, will contribute with contents and expertise in food management. The intellectual products that the project plans to develop form 4 blocks: - IO1. FairFood OER online platform for knowledge and training on traditional healthy food, with 3 sections, available in 5 languages (Spanish, English, Italian, French and Portuguese). - IO2. FOODPEDIA, a repository of ancestral knowledge about native foods, crops, techniques of treatment and conservation, consumption, etc., respectful of their nature and health, including culinary recipes and traditional preparations, delivered in 100 fiches to make them easily accessible. - IO3. FAIRFOOD TOOLKIT, a set of 10 courses at two levels (basic and advanced) on healthy eating based on natural and nearby foods, targeted at students of high schools (basic) and professional and university training in gastronomy and nutrition (advanced). - IO4. TEST & VALIDATION, with the training of 250 students face-to-face and the testing of materials and levels in both the online and offline modes. In addition, the platform will have an area called FAIRFOOD SUSTAINABILITY, a virtual community where successful experiences and cases of entrepreneurship, business, tourism, significant places and cultural and recreational activities, linked to the agro-food sector and based on traditional nutrition, will be collected to contribute to the visibility and strengthening of the sector, and pointing out its attractiveness for new ventures in rural areas. The desired results point to an improvement in food education of the population, especially among young people, and to a greater awareness of the value of this cultural heritage. For the rural world, recovering and maintaining these activities is fundamental for the survival of many towns and populations, creating competitive and sustainable businesses and decreasing depopulation. For the environment, going back to less aggressive modes of production means reducing environmental impact. FairFood can be expanded in future editions to other countries, Southern and Eastern, especially those with greater problems linked to unhealthy diet, as well as other healthy and traditional food models different from the Mediterranean diet.
This knowledge-based project has three objectives: - To collect and preserve ancestral knowledge about native and local foods, typical species and varieties from the project countries, as well as cultivation and food preservation techniques, and ancient and simple cooking recipes, which are at risk of disappearing, in order to create a community of knowledge open to public availability. - To disseminate this knowledge among the population, basically among young people who are forming their eating habits in inconvenient ways, through training programs and with the help of training centres, dissemination events and opinion leaders. - To show positive experiences and successful stories for local development, related to traditional food, which have led to new businesses of traditional agriculture and livestock, recovery of old recipes, restoration, rural tourism, etc., so contributing to entrepreneurship and the development of rural businesses based on a healthier and more friendly towards environment mode of production, treatment and consumption of food, in order to help the rural areas to be competitive and attractive for the settlement of people.
There are several evidences that a correct diet is a source of health and longevity. However, social, economic and lifestyle changes cause many people to eat badly, due to ignorance or to the convenience of easily having cheaper prepared food. With fewer means than today, previous generations were fed in a more intelligent, balanced, and healthy way, because they did it with natural products, hardly processed, typical of the land, collected and consumed at it right time, generating fewer negative impacts. The industrial mode of production and distribution of food overexploits resources and infers damage to the environment (50% of the ecological footprint of consumption is attributed to it), and produces abandonment and depopulation in rural areas, because traditional production is not competitive with intensive production. Finally, the abandonment of traditional forms of production, preparation and consumption of food represents an incalculable loss of knowledge and popular wisdom that has taken millennia to be generated. The purpose of FairFood is to contribute to reversing these problems by valuing traditional food, particularly among young people.