Sustainable diets and biodiversity

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grains, many condiments and spices accompanied

by wine or teas, always respecting the traditions of

each community (Figure 1).

These are common characteristics, but there are

many different Mediterranean diets. A famous cook-

book, “Eat well and stay well” by Ancel and Mar-

garet Keys makes it known to the United States

which is exported to Europe and worldwide (Keys

and Keys, 1959). Prof. Keys, after a long-term study

in seven countries concluded that we should cut

down drastically on saturated fat and meat and turn

to vegetable oils and fresh fruit and vegetables in-

stead in order to have lower rates of heart disease,

diabetes and depression. His fortune in the second

half of the twentieth century is explained by the gas-

tronomic tourism and the development of olive cul-

tivation and production in California and Australia. It

is the effect of habits, tastes, knowledge that is con-

fronting scramble and recompose transposed (Ca-

patti et al., 2003). The Mediterranean diets are

based on the respect for the territory and biodiver-

sity (Figures 2, 3 and 4) and on activities performed

by local communities including crop harvesting,

fishing, conservation, processing, preparation and

consumption of food, following traditional recipes

and the way and context of eating them (Serra-

Majem et al., 2006). They promote social interaction

by communal meals and emphasize the relevant po-

sition of women that play an important role in trans-

mitting expertise and traditional gestures as well as

Figgure 1. Mediterranean Diet Pyyramid