GREEK CIOFF® NATIONAL SECTION

Cultural conference titled

“TASTES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN CULTURES”

Historical and cultural evolution of the Mediterranean Diet’s products.

The cases of olive oil and wine.

Took place in 27th of April in Thessaloniki Greece, at the History Center Hall. The conference organized from CIOFF® Greek National Section and it was a pre-festival activity for the International Festival “Mediterranean Cultures”, which will take place in Lisbon Portugal, 12th to 16th of September 2018 and it’s organizing by CIOFF® Portuguese National Section and in cooperation with CIOFF® South European Sector.

It was a conference for the Mediterranean Diet and the two Greek products the olive-oil and wine. During the Conference, we had the opportunity to hear many interesting speeches from professors, agronomists, wine-makers and olive oil experts. The crowd heard about the wine tradition in Greece, the winemaking techniques, the Greek and international varieties. Also, the olive oil tradition in Greece is going back to ancient years, in many regions, there are ancient olive trees. Also, we learned the nowadays we use the same methods to produce olive oil and that Greece is one of the biggest producers in the country. A University professor spoke about the Mediterranean Diet, the benefits on human’s health, the traditional ingredients and recipes. And finally the organizer of the “Thessaloniki Food Festival” talked about the promoting of the Diet through their Festival and the building of an urban nutrition policy.

After the speeches, all the participants had the opportunity to visit a small food and local products exhibition, where the producers gave information about their products and there was a wine tasting. During the exhibition, a youth musician team played traditional songs with themes the foods, the wine, and olive oil.

The conference was under the auspice of the Portuguese Embassy in Greece and so H.E. the Ambassador sent his message. The activity was in cooperation with Municipality of the City of Thessaloniki, the 1st Municipal Community, and the “Thessaloniki Food Festival” and with communication sponsor the ERT (Greek National TV and Radio).