Established in 2016 by the United Nations Assembly, the Sustainable Gastronomy Day is celebrated on June 18 with the aim of raising public awareness on the real value of food, thus reducing both food waste and the exploitation of resources and the production of waste.
The UN, UNESCO and FAO work together with Member States, international bodies, territorial and regional organizations in promoting initiatives aimed at "becoming aware" of our current way of producing and consuming food which, in addition to the aspect ethical questionable, it has now been considered unsustainable to hold in terms of the use of natural resources.
Our current food systems are based on industrial logic and commercial dynamics that have led, over time, to large-scale intensive food production supported by excessive exploitation of environmental and animal resources during production processes..
Furthermore, a commercial competition has been created with local products that guarantee greater sustainability in terms of maintaining biodiversity, 0 km production and control over the food chain from farm to table.
By sustainable gastronomy we mean a local, traditional and typical cuisine of a specific geographical area; a 0 km cuisine that takes into account the origin of the various ingredients, enhancing seasonal producers and preserving wildlife, a cuisine that is sustainable and therefore does not waste natural resources and is not harmful to the environment.
Gastronomy, as a cultural expression of different peoples and cultures of the world linked to specific territories of the planet and thanks to our consumption and purchasing choices, plays a very important role in achieving by 2030 the UN sustainable development goals centered on sustainable agriculture (2030 Agenda).