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mediterranean diet - Youth exchange
venerdì 17 maggio 2013
lunedì 13 maggio 2013
Cookbook: download and share it!
The outcome of the project Mediterranean Diet is the cookbook in which we collected recipes coming from the 4 countries involved in the project.
This is the introduction:
This cookbook is the outcome of the project “Mediterranean Diet” promoted by Yap Italia, De Amicitia, Elix, Gençtur and the municipality of San Giorgio a Cremano (NAPOLI). The project was financed by the Programme Youth in Action of the European Commission. The “Mediterranean Diet” is a youth exchange
project (action 1.1) involving 20 people from 4 different countries: Italy, Greece, Spain and Turkey. The exchange took place in San Giorgio a Cremano (NA) from May 03th to May 12th 2013. The main idea of the exchange was intercultural learning through food and eating habits, reflecting upon the connection between the way you eat and the way you feel. Participants had the opportunity to identify the differences and the similarities among traditional food cultures of four Mediterranean countries.
The activities involved sharing one’s own food cultures with the others, getting to know the
similarities and the differences of every country’s culture: through workshops and non-formal
education activities, the participants discovered more about the other countries, in order to eliminate the barriers and the prejudices among them. The participants were also involved in inter-generational activities by meeting the elderly people of San Giorgio a Cremano and sharing traditional food cultures of their own grandparents. The food was the basic instrument for this exchange of experiences.
Another aim of the project was to rediscover the wholesome traditions, focusing on the use of local products from an ecological point of view too. The choice of these products has a close relation with the carbon’s emissions: in fact, the energetic resources consumed are lower than the one used for the products that come from far places. We maintain that the use of local products, indeed, might be convenient due to the reduced consumption of energetic resources that it generates.
The cookbook that you are reading includes recipes written by all the participants involved in the project. Moreover, special emphasis is given on recipes, made with leftovers food. The last part of the cookbook is dedicated to the food glossary that contains information about the ingredients that were used in recipes.
Finally, the cookbook has been already uploaded on a web platform where the participants will able to
share contents after the exchange, thus ensuring a follow-up of the experience. In the first part we had some interviews with the participants of the project by asking questions related to their eating habits and ideas of
Mediterranean diet. They were asked to express their preferences about local and imported products, the
time they spend for cooking and the differences between the way you cook nowadays and the way
your grandparents used to.
In the second part we asked questions to the local people about their interest in using local products,
their affords to teach their children the traditional ways of cooking and eating habits to avoid the consumption of junk food.
Moreover, senior people from AGAPE (association that works with disabled) were asked if they are
aware of the waste of food and have any recipes which are prepared with leftovers.
On the last day of the project the outcomes were presented during the final event that took place ın Villa Bruno, San Giorgio a Cremano, on 11th May 2013.
Download, cook and enjoy your meal and Mediterranean food and culture!
P.S. Special thanks to Fatma for the wonderful job done in editing this cookbook
Download cookbook
This is the introduction:
This cookbook is the outcome of the project “Mediterranean Diet” promoted by Yap Italia, De Amicitia, Elix, Gençtur and the municipality of San Giorgio a Cremano (NAPOLI). The project was financed by the Programme Youth in Action of the European Commission. The “Mediterranean Diet” is a youth exchange
project (action 1.1) involving 20 people from 4 different countries: Italy, Greece, Spain and Turkey. The exchange took place in San Giorgio a Cremano (NA) from May 03th to May 12th 2013. The main idea of the exchange was intercultural learning through food and eating habits, reflecting upon the connection between the way you eat and the way you feel. Participants had the opportunity to identify the differences and the similarities among traditional food cultures of four Mediterranean countries.
The activities involved sharing one’s own food cultures with the others, getting to know the
similarities and the differences of every country’s culture: through workshops and non-formal
education activities, the participants discovered more about the other countries, in order to eliminate the barriers and the prejudices among them. The participants were also involved in inter-generational activities by meeting the elderly people of San Giorgio a Cremano and sharing traditional food cultures of their own grandparents. The food was the basic instrument for this exchange of experiences.
Another aim of the project was to rediscover the wholesome traditions, focusing on the use of local products from an ecological point of view too. The choice of these products has a close relation with the carbon’s emissions: in fact, the energetic resources consumed are lower than the one used for the products that come from far places. We maintain that the use of local products, indeed, might be convenient due to the reduced consumption of energetic resources that it generates.
The cookbook that you are reading includes recipes written by all the participants involved in the project. Moreover, special emphasis is given on recipes, made with leftovers food. The last part of the cookbook is dedicated to the food glossary that contains information about the ingredients that were used in recipes.
Finally, the cookbook has been already uploaded on a web platform where the participants will able to
share contents after the exchange, thus ensuring a follow-up of the experience. In the first part we had some interviews with the participants of the project by asking questions related to their eating habits and ideas of
Mediterranean diet. They were asked to express their preferences about local and imported products, the
time they spend for cooking and the differences between the way you cook nowadays and the way
your grandparents used to.
In the second part we asked questions to the local people about their interest in using local products,
their affords to teach their children the traditional ways of cooking and eating habits to avoid the consumption of junk food.
Moreover, senior people from AGAPE (association that works with disabled) were asked if they are
aware of the waste of food and have any recipes which are prepared with leftovers.
On the last day of the project the outcomes were presented during the final event that took place ın Villa Bruno, San Giorgio a Cremano, on 11th May 2013.
Download, cook and enjoy your meal and Mediterranean food and culture!
P.S. Special thanks to Fatma for the wonderful job done in editing this cookbook
Download cookbook
giovedì 25 aprile 2013
London's cooking waste to fuel power station
An interesting news from the UK about a sustainable way to reuse waste oil to produce electricity. Thames Water and 2OC in deal worth £200m over 20 years to turn 'fatbergs' clogging capital's sewers into energy for sewage works and homes
Cooking waste from thousands of London restaurants and food companies is to help run what is claimed to be the world's biggest fat-fuelled power station.
The energy generated from the grease, oil and fat that clogs the capital's sewers will also be channelled to help run a major sewage works and a desalination plant, as well as supplying the National Grid, under plans announced by Thames Water and utility company 2OC.
The prospect of easing the financial and logistical problems of pouring £1m a month into clearing the drains of 40,000 fat-caused blockages a year is being hailed by the companies as a "win-win" project. Thirty tonnes a day of waste will be collected from leftover cooking oil supplies at eateries and manufacturers, fat traps in kitchens and pinchpoints in the sewers – enough to provide more than half the fuel the power plant will need to run. The rest of its fuel will come from waste vegetable oil and tallow (animal fats).
The deal, worth more than £200m over 20 years, has made possible the building of the £70m plant at Beckton, east London, which is financed by a consortium led by iCON Infrastructure. It is due to be operational in early 2015. No virgin oils from field or plantation crops will be used to power it, says 2OC.
The plant will produce 130 Gigawatt hours (GWh) a year of renewable electricity – enough to run just under 40,000 average-sized homes, say the planners.
Thames Water has agreed to buy 75GWh of this output to run Beckton sewage works, which serves 3.5 million people, and the nearby desalination plant, which is used in times of drought or other emergencies. Piers Clark, commercial director for Thames Water, said: "This project is a win-win: renewable power, hedged from the price fluctuations of the non-renewable mainstream power markets, and helping tackle the ongoing operational problem of 'fatbergs' in sewers."
Andrew Mercer, chief executive of 2OC, said: "This is good for us, the environment, Thames Water and its customers.
"Our renewable power and heat from waste oils and fats is fully sustainable. When Thames doesn't need our output, it will be made available to the grid meaning that power will be sourced, generated and used in London by Londoners."
mercoledì 17 aprile 2013
Slow food - Pleasure of a good, clean and fair food
Consecutively, the presentation of the association that you can read on their web site.
Slow Food is a global, grassroots organization with supporters in 150 countries around the world who are linking the pleasure of good food with a commitment to their community and the environment.
A non-profit member-supported association, Slow Food was founded in 1989 to counter the rise of fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.
Today, we have over 100,000 members joined in 1,500 convivia – our local chapters – worldwide, as well as a network of 2,000 food communities who practice small-scale and sustainable production of quality foods.
A non-profit member-supported association, Slow Food was founded in 1989 to counter the rise of fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.
Today, we have over 100,000 members joined in 1,500 convivia – our local chapters – worldwide, as well as a network of 2,000 food communities who practice small-scale and sustainable production of quality foods.
Meeting with Auser and Agape
Shown below there are some pictures of the meeting during the preliminary visit in March with Auser, the association of pensioners of San Giorgio a Cremano, and the association Agape, that will be involved during the youth exchange that will take place in May 2013. They will cook with the participants during one day of intergenerational activities: a funny and interesting way to bring generations together, to spread the traditional culinary culture and to support the associations that promote on the ground the active ageing (The project "Mediterranean Diet" was written during the European Year of active ageing)
lunedì 15 aprile 2013
Too many Israelis eschew Mediterranean diet, reaching for fast-food instead
"Not only is the Israeli diet not Mediterranean, it's the opposite," says Dr. Maya Rosman, a nutrition and diet specialist. "Here, Italian pasta is drenched in cream, sushi is fried, and consumption of sweet pastries is very high. Supermarkets are packed full of sweets. As globalization increases, the Mediterranean diet is disappearing."
Sigal Beltzer, a certified clinical nutritionist, says the problem lies in the temptations of a culture of abundance. And Israelis simply enjoy eating animal products.
"Israelis tend to consume saturated fat, which mainly comes from animal products," she says. "On the other hand, children eat lots of processed food – schnitzel, fries and snacks that contain trans fats."
Dov Chernichovsky is a health economics professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the chairman of the National Council for Nutritional Security at the Social Affairs Ministry. He says the tendency of Western countries – including Israel – to consume processed foods full of saturated fats and sugar has its implications. "If we ate more healthily, life expectancy here would be 90, not 82," he says.
Chernichovsky estimates that one-third of Israel's NIS 60 billion in annual health spending goes to treat risk factors stemming from an unhealthy diet. Diabetes and heart disease are all too frequent.
"Medicine has gained control over most infectious diseases, and the diseases that are killing us now are the ones that stem from a poor diet or genetics," he says. "A high incidence of disease produces a clear economic burden – sick people are less productive and more reliant on the health care system and social services."
Chernichovsky brings up a shocking paradox: Poorer people suffer more from illness and obesity, even though a Mediterranean diet is generally cheaper than a processed one. The reason is a lack of awareness, the plentiful processed food on supermarket shelves, and advertising.
"We have to increase awareness of a proper diet in the education system and encourage campaigns that promote proper nutrition," he says. "People are reaching for the wrong products out of ignorance."
Chernichovsky says the state should consider economic incentives to get people eating healthily; for example, canceling value added tax on fruit, vegetables and other healthy products such as olive oil and legumes.
A key factor that makes a Mediterranean diet healthy is its antioxidants, which are abundant in fruit and vegetables.
"Studies have shown that there are fewer cases of cancer, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's in Mediterranean countries," says Beltzer. "In these countries, there is also a tendency to eat small meals and to eat slowly, which also has health benefits."
mercoledì 27 marzo 2013
Youth Exchange "Mediterranean Diet"

The activities will involve sharing one’s own
food cultures with the others, getting to know the similarities and the
differences of every country’s culture: through workshops and non-formal
education activities the participants will discover more about the other
countries, in order to eliminate the barriers and the prejudices among them.
The participants will also be involved in inter-generational activities,
meeting the elderly people of San
Giorgio a Cremano and sharing traditional food
cultures of their own grandparents. The food will be the instrument for this
exchange of experiences.

The project is organized by Youth Action for Peace and the Youth center of San Giogio a Cremano.
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