A voluntary code of conduct for promoting adherence to the Mediterranean diet: rationale and propositions

Throughout the Mediterranean region, adherence to the Mediterranean diet is decreasing especially among young people. The Mediterranean diet is the most studied dietary pattern with proven health benefits, especially regarding the prevention of non-communicable diseases at a time when their incidence is increasing worldwide. It has also been recognized as a sustainable diet model with multiple interdependent benefits on social, cultural, environmental, and economic dimensions. Faced with the challenge of promoting adherence to the Mediterranean diet, a Joint Med Diet Task Force of CIHEAM, FENS, and IUNS was formed to set the path for reversing the erosion of the Mediterranean diet heritage, by promoting its benefits, as a way of living, as defined by UNESCO. In this paper, the rationale and propositions of the Joint Task Force are described for the development of a voluntary code of conduct for promoting the adherence of the Mediterranean diet, and sustainable diets per se, addressed to all interested stakeholders and rights holders, linking food consumption and production, toward sustainable food systems transformation in the Mediterranean and beyond.