Despite the war in Ukraine, the demand for Italian food products that are the basis of the Mediterranean Diet is increasing worldwide. This year, yet another record has already been broken for exports of fruit, vegetables, pasta, extra virgin olive oil, and wine. This is according to an analysis by the association of Italian farmers, Coldiretti, on the anniversary of the UNESCO recognition of the Mediterranean Diet (November 16, 2010), based on Istat data about the first eight months of 2022 compared to the same period last year.
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Thanks to UNESCO protection, awareness of the value of the Mediterranean Diet has grown worldwide, and with it the demand for Italian food and beverage. In the first eight months of 2022, exports of pasta (+33%), extra virgin olive oil (+23%), wine (+13%), and fresh and preserved fruits and vegetables (+8%) increased compared to the same period last year.
Not surprisingly, the diet based on typical Italian food was also voted the world’s best diet in 2022, based on U.S. News & World’s Report’s Best Diets Ranking. “This leadership,” Coldiretti says, “finds evidence in the fact that the diet of Italians based on bread, pasta, fruit, vegetables, meat, extra virgin olive oil, and the traditional glass of wine consumed at the table in regular meals has resulted in a life expectancy among the highest in the world: 80.1 years for men, and 84.7 for women.”