Our country boasts a gastronomic heritage that is unique in the world: that is why 2018 celebrates the Year of Italian food. It will be an opportunity to promote products, people and lands, but also to share experiences on social media. And, of course, to eat.
2018 has been chosen as the Year of Italian food, and dedicated to chef Gualtiero Marchesi. The aim is to promote the gastronomic heritage of our country, which has earned recognition at an international level: the art of the Neapolitan pizza maker and the Mediterranean diet are Unesco World Heritage, as are the alberello vine cultivation of Pantelleria, the city of Parma, and the vineyard landscapes of the Langhe-Roero and Monferrato in Piedmont. Prosecco and Amatriciana could soon be added to the list.
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A few months after the opening of Fico and three years after Expo Milan, "the national agri-food experience is once again taking centre stage across all regions", declared Maurizio Martina, Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, who together with Dario Franceschini, Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities, proclaimed 2018 the "National Year of Italian food". The key players of the food supply chain — farmers, livestock breeders, fishermen and chefs — will be involved, with the aim of organising events, initiatives and activities linked to Italian gastronomic culture, with particular attention to tackling food waste and promoting historic rural landscapes. All initiatives will be identified by an official logo.
"Thanks to the collaboration between the Ministries of Culture and Agriculture, Italy will be able to promote itself abroad in an integrated and intelligent way, enhancing the interplay between food, art and landscape that is undoubtedly one of the defining elements of Italian identity", Minister Franceschini added. It is no coincidence that during the Year of Italian food a tourism promotion strategy — developed by the National Tourism Agency (Enit) and Italian embassies around the world — and a social media campaign aimed at raising awareness of artworks connected to food are planned. The Instagram account @museitaliani is committed to posting and sharing around 50 digital posters, including the Karo stele at the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Leonardo's Last Supper and the frescoes of Pompeii. All visitors are invited to seek out, photograph and share the works using the hashtag #annodelciboitaliano.
2018 is set to bring important developments for Made in Italy: from February onwards, it will be mandatory to indicate the origin of the rice and wheat used for pasta on the label. Gualtiero Marchesi would have been delighted — the most renowned Italian chef in the world, who left us in December 2017. As his symbolic ingredient, he had in fact chosen wheat: "I think it is the product that best represents us. Pasta is perhaps our most important heritage, and we must learn to respect it more. All too often it is ruined with so many ingredients, so many sauces… terrifying messes." This is why the National Year of Italian food is dedicated to him, Gualtiero Marchesi, who was able to respect and interpret the raw ingredients of the Italian territory to the fullest.
