Sustainable Gastronomy Day, June 18
Sustainable Gastronomy Day was established by the United Nations after the UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/71/246 on December 21, 2016, and is celebrated every year on June 18 since 2017.
The decision acknowledges gastronomy as a cultural expression related to the natural and cultural diversity of the world. Sustainable gastronomy is focusing on celebrating seasonal ingredients and producers, preserving wildlife as well as our culinary traditions.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN General Assembly work to facilitate the observance of Sustainable Gastronomy Day, in collaboration with Member States, UN organizations, other international and regional bodies, as well as civil society, to observe the Day in raising public awareness of its contribution to sustainable development.
Sustainable gastronomy development goals focus on promoting agricultural development, nutrition, food production and biodiversity conservation.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
“Over human history, out of about 30 000 edible plant species, 6 000 – 7 000 species have been cultivated for food. Yet, today we only grow approximately 170 crops on a commercially significant scale. Even more surprising, we depend highly on only about 30 of them to provide us with calories and nutrients that we need every day. More than 40 percent of our daily calories come from three staple crops: rice, wheat and maize!”
How can I contribute to Sustainable Gastronomy?
- Talk about sustainable gastronomy importance with your family and friends
- Support local producers by buying from local food markets and small producers
- Support local traditional products, in order to safeguard our agriculture and local ecosystems
- Keep and spread out traditional knowledge of growing, harvesting as well cooking traditional dishes.
- Minimise waste
- Taste and try local products and traditional dishes in each new destination you visit
Resources:
https://www.un.org/en/observances/sustainable-gastronomy-day
https://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1154584/