Mediterranean diet better for environment

Leading farmers' association Coldiretti on Thursday urged Italians to shun exotic foods and stick to a Mediterranean diet in a bid to cut down greenhouse gas emissions.

Coldiretti said Italians are guilty of buying products that had travelled thousands of kilometres to arrive on their tables when perfectly good locally grown alternatives are available.

Among the least environmentally friendly products in terms of distances flown to reach Italy are Australian wine, Chilean plums, Argentinian meat, Peruvian mangos, Chinese garlic, American rice and watermelons from Panama.

An aeroplane transporting Australian wine here travels 16,015 km, uses 9.4 kg of fuel and is responsible for releasing 29.3 kg of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, Coldiretti said.

Fans of Chilean plums, which have travelled 11,970 km using 7.1 kg of fuel, are indirectly responsible for 22 kg of CO2 emissions.

The farmers' association said responsible purchasing of home-grown goods would make a significant difference to reducing pollution and saving energy.

''By consuming local and seasonal products and paying attention to packaging, a family can cut down up to 1,000 kilos of carbon dioxide a year,'' it said.

There were no excuses for buying the worst offenders - Australian wine, Chilean plums and Argentinian beef, it added.

''Italy produces 469 quality-certified wines; it is the first in Europe in terms of quantity and variety of fruit and vegetables; and we have meat from prestigious, historic Italian breeds such as Chianina cattle, from which we get the Fiorentina steak'', the association pointed out.

Coldiretti said it would like Italian supermarkets to follow in the footsteps of other European shops by labelling foreign products with their environmental costs and dedicating spaces on the shelves specifically for local foods.

This year the association began a project to open at least one farmers' market in every Italian town, significantly cutting the distance products have to travel from the fields to the table.

The first permanent market opened in the centre of Taranto, and other markets have got under way in and around Bari, Potenza, Pistoia, Arezzo, Padova, Trento and Turin, the association said.

The low-fat, high-fibre Mediterranean diet is considered one of the best recipes against health problems such as arthritis, obesity, diabetes, asthma and cardiovascular disease.

Cereals, olive oil, certain fish, such as anchovies and tuna, and a high fruit and vegetable intake, including tomatoes, broccoli and blackberries, are thought to be among its most important features.