Two film makers and four cooks, two scene directors, a nutritionist and an expert in food communications: these are the ten members of each of the SlowMed Local Working Groups in Egypt, Italy, Lebanon, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, 60 participants in total. The teams started to gather in July in every partner country. Selected through an accurate and strict procedure by the end of June, group members started to propose ideas and suggestions in order to develop a research about the evolution of Mediterranean Diet in their own region, stressing their prominent willingness to actively participate in the project.
Stage by stage, the research will be an enriching journey through this heritage, aimed at discovering traditional recipes and food raw materials. In addition, the team will also look for the cultural influences that nurtured and fostered the evolution of their culinary traditions. This process will be targeted at bringing out those actors who have been adopting a sustainable attitude towards nutrition, by preserving both food heritage and fish diversity. The journey will end this autumn, but every team will meticulously document its activities in a research diary, constantly updated on SlowMed website.
In the upcoming weeks, the groups will meet to start outlining their research, by planning its stages in detail. In the end, all the collected materials will be used to film a documentary about features and aspects of Mediterranean Diet. Besides they will also cure the release of a Recipe Book for children, containing some of the most intriguing recipes. All the Local Working Groups will have the opportunity to share and compare the outcomes of their research among them, so as to encourage the emergence of similarities and differences in Mediterranean gastronomy. This encounter will take place firstly in October, during an international meeting held at Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt; therefore it will be re-enacted during a festival about Mediterranean Diet, taking place in June 2015 in Portugal.
