Abstract
There are no doubts that typical foods (and traditional popular dishes) are part of the cultural heritage of a place and of a people. As Massimo Montanari says, food and above all typical and quality foods constitute culture. But can typical dishes and above all the Mediterranean diet, which is made up of typical dishes, be considered cultural heritage and as such be subject to the same forms of protection that apply to material cultural heritage?
Although being part of the intangible cultural heritage, the Mediterranean diet is much more than a cultural asset: the regional laws (Campania 6/2012 and Calabria 45/2013) that deal with this matter embrace a series of tangible elements that range from the promotion of multifunctionality in agriculture to the protection of the landscape, of natural historic and cultural heritage, sustainable tourism, healthy diets, health protection and cultural activities. If there is any sense in keeping the regions, some matters must necessarily be of exclusive competence of such autonomous bodies. This is undoubtedly the case of intangible cultural assets that arise from the local reality and that deserve adequate promotion and appreciation by such local entities.
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Notes
- 1.
Montanari (2006).
- 2.
- 3.
To encourage the protection and differentiation of these products from their “imitations”, the European Union has laid down precise provisions, shared by all Member States. Particularly, it has established three certification schemes: Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (TSG). For further reading on the legal profiles of the designation of origin of agricultural products and foodstuffs, see Trapè (2012), pp. 167–278.
- 4.
Gualdani (2014), p. 4.
- 5.
Giannini (1976), p. 24.
- 6.
The appreciation for the elimination of the limit to the material nature of an element of cultural heritage—present both in Act 1089/1939 that spoke expressly of “things of artistic and historic interest”, and in the Consolidated Text of legislative provisions on matters related to cultural and environmental heritage (Legislative Decree 490/1999) that did not codify a comprehensive notion of cultural heritage but continued to refer to the individual kinds of cultural assets recognised by the legislation in force (the “things” governed by Act 1089)—would, according to the literature, ensure “the necessary evolution of the general category of cultural heritage”. Find this expressly dealt with in Chiti (1998), p. 3.
- 7.
Morbidelli (2014), p. 4.
- 8.
Disapproval of the reconstruction of an item of cultural heritage where attention is paid exclusively to the “thing” was already expressed by Cassese (1976), p. 177.
- 9.
Zucchelli (2012), p. 156.
- 10.
Such position was already expressed by Cammelli (2000), p. 21, in his comment to the 1999 Consolidated Text of the provisions on cultural heritage (dlgs. no 490).
- 11.
Article introduced through an amendment to the Code by Leg. D. 62/2008.
- 12.
Tarasco (2008), p. 2263.
- 13.
Severini (2014), p. 2.
- 14.
Many other examples can be found in Tarasco (2008), cit., pp. 2264–2265.
- 15.
The intangible cultural heritage of humanity already includes the Mexican cuisine (2010), the Japanese cuisine (2013), and the gastronomic meal of the French (2010).
- 16.
The other Italian items inscribed on the list are the Opera dei pupi, Sicilian puppet theatre (2008), the Canto a tenore, Sardinian polyphonic singing by a group of four men (2008), Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona (2012), shoulder-borne structures for processions and popular rites (2013).
- 17.
Bartolini (2013), p. 111.
- 18.
The knowledge of local certified typical products (PDO, PGI, Biological) and of products obtained by using certified integrated production methods is, amongst other things, an educational awareness raising strategy—required of Member States (that apply for funds by cofinancing the Programme)—present in the European Programme “Fruit in the schools” introduced by Council Regulation (EC) No 1234 of 22 October 2007 and by Commission Regulation (EC) of 7 April 2009. The programme envisages the distribution of fruit and vegetables to children at school with the aim of encouraging young people to adopt good and healthy food habits.
- 19.
See Liguria, Regional Law 32/1990, containing provisions for the study, safeguarding, enhancement and social use of some categories of cultural items, particularly dialects and popular traditions; Piedmont, regional Law 26/1990 concerning the safeguarding, enhancement and promotion of the knowledge of the original language heritage; Emilia-Romagna, regional Law 45/1994, law on the protection and enhancement of dialects; Basilicata, Regional Law 16/1996, on the promotion and safeguarding of ethnic and language minorities of Greek-Albanian origin; Sardinia, Regional Law 26/1997, concerning the promotion and enhancement of the Sardinian language and culture. These laws were recently totally or partly repealed and replaced by other legislative measures that have maintained the same title as the original law. See, for instance, Basilicata, Regional Law 17/2004, Piedmont, Regional Law 11/2009, Emilia-Romagna, Regional Law 14/2014. In some cases, the provisions of the original law were included in the Consolidated Texts. See, for instance, Liguria, Regional Law 33/2006 (Consolidated Text of cultural matters, Article 17 “Conservation of dialects and of popular traditions”). On these issues, see Bartole (1999) and Imparato (2010).
- 20.
See Bolzano, Province Law 11/2000, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Regional Law 21/2002, Marche, Regional Law 5/2004, Trento, Province Law 13/2009, Basilicata, Regional Law 5/2010, Puglia, Regional Law 43/2012.
- 21.
See Emilia-Romagna, regional Law 28/1999.
- 22.
See, for instance, Umbria, Regional Law 38/1999, included in the Consolidated Text on agriculture (Regional Law 12/2015, Articles 29–38), Veneto, Regional Law 17/2000 (amended with Regional Law 23/2004), Molise, Regional Law 50/2005, Tuscany Regional Law 45/2003 (amended with Regional Law. 4/2013).
- 23.
- 24.
The Register includes six books: Book of Crafts, Knowledge and Techniques; Book of Celebrations Feasts and Ritual Practices; Book of Dialects, Parlances and Jargons; Book of Expressive Practices and of Oral Repertoires; Book of Human Living Treasures; Book of Symbolic Spaces.
- 25.
By way of example, the REIL was established by the Union of the Elmo Ericini Municipalities and by the Municipality of Noto.
- 26.
The Register comprises five sectors: the Register of Oral works, dedicated to the oral traditions (both formal and non formal), to expressive modes and language registers, and to communal values and memories; the Register of the Performing Arts and of Entertainment, dedicated to artistic-expressive performances like music, dances, plays, figurative arts including also the traditional performance of street shows and street artists; the Register of Rituals, dedicated to religious and lay rites, to feasts, to social communal practices celebrating life and annual cycles, entertainment and other significant moments in the cultural life of individuals and communities; the Register of Naturalistic knowledge, dedicated to the practices and knowledge of nature and the universe; the Register of Technical knowledge, dedicated to craftsmanship, farming techniques, agricultural and crafts knowledge about the production of lasting and short-lived objects, diets, husbandry, hunting and fishing, etc.
- 27.
The Project is based on a shared strategy in support of Communities in defending and maintaining cultural and language specificities and pluralities and in preserving some traditional activities, particularly in border areas. For further details refer to www.echi-interreg.eu.
- 28.
See, by way of example, the bill of the Piedmont Region no 628 submitted on 25 June 2009 and the bill of the Calabria Region no 100 submitted on 5 November 2010.
- 29.
Colella (2013), p. 585.
- 30.
For some reflections on the relationship between agriculture and food cultures, see Adornato (2009).
- 31.
Casini (2008), p. 1062.
- 32.
According to Mirri (2004, p. 291) the consideration of the typical and traditional products as cultural assets might also be seen as a “contradiction”, since these items are for consumption.
- 33.
Mirri (2004), p. 291.
- 34.
The chapter “Tendencies and problems of Regional legislation” of the 2013 Report is edited (as are the relevant chapters in all the editions of the Report) by ISSiRFA-CNR and can be read in www.issirfa.cnr.it>Rapporti Issirfa>Rapporti sulla legislazione delle regioni.
- 35.
Other Regions (Apulia and Sicily) have instead, developed bills that are still being discussed. Among other things, for several years, Apulia has been organising the Mediterranean Diet Festival, hosted each year by a different municipality. Besides promoting the typical products that are part of their diet (oil, wine and bread, to mention just a few), it is an opportunity for rediscovering villages, natural and architectural beauties and ancient traditions (including outdoor games). Meetings are held with experts and nutritionists who provide indications and suggestions about food “habits”. Similar initiatives are organised also in Campania and Calabria.
- 36.
The decree issued by the Minister for Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies and the Minister for Cultural Heritage of 9 April 2008 expressly states that the traditional agrifood products contained on the lists in Ministerial Decree of 18 July 2000 and subsequent amendments “are an expression of Italy’s cultural heritage”. This decree, published after Leg. Decree no 62 of 2008 amending the Cultural Heritage Code (issued in March), appears to be a declaration after the failure to extend the discipline of the Code also to intangible cultural heritage not supported by a ‘thing’, which is a true “declaration” of cultural asset. After all, as already pointed out, in the case of typical and traditional products it is not a question of promoting and enhancing items for consumption, but rather the methods and the production and processing procedures of a product, which in themselves are culture (Mirri 2004 cit., p. 291).
- 37.
According to the literature (Morbidelli 2014, p. 5), it is the multiplicity and variety of the intangible cultural heritage that requires that the promotion and enhancement measures of such heritage be “«naturally» a competence of the community in which they are born and of which they constitute a value and an element of identity”.
- 38.
DDL S. no 313 addressed to the Presidency on 26 March 2013 was assigned to the 9th Standing Committee (agriculture and agrofood production) on 15 May 2013. The DDL is currently being examined by the Committee.
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Arabia, A.G. (2018). Agro-Food Typicality and Cultural Heritage: The Case of the Mediterranean Diet. In: Isoni, A., Troisi, M., Pierri, M. (eds) Food Diversity Between Rights, Duties and Autonomies. LITES - Legal Issues in Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75196-2_10
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