Insects, algae and jellyfish: in Pescara the Cuisine Academy reflects on new foods – Quotidian Virtues

PESCARA – Novel Food, that is, insects, algae, jellyfish, cultured meat and digital food to the attention of the Italian Academy of Cuisine in the conference “The future of food and the food of the future”, which was held a few days ago in Pescara at the Esplanade Hotel.

The event, which dealt with a highly topical topic at the center of the political debate, took place under the patronage of the Municipality of Pescara and the Atalmi Foundation.

On this topic, in the presence of the deputy vice president of the Italian Academy of Cuisine, Mimmo D’Alessioreported among the top national experts including Professor Massimo Canali of the University of Bologna, Antonella Leone researcher at the Cnr of Lecce, Francesco Gai researcher at the Cnr of Turin, Claudio Rossi professor emeritus of the University of Siena, Angelo Cichelli professor at the University of Chieti Gabriele D’Annunzio e Chiara Biagini researcher at the University of Modena.

“The Italian Academy of Cuisine”, explains Mimmo D’Alessio, “is a cultural institution attentive to small and large changes not only in the sector of gastronomy itself, but also in those of scientific research and continuous technological evolution concerning the preparation of foods. The conference, excellently organized by the Pescara Delegation, led by Dr Giuseppe Fioritoni, has well presented the near and future scenario of changes that appear inevitable on a global level, in the face of which our commitment to protecting the civilization of the table must become even more attentive, free of dogmatic absolutisms and prejudicial positions. Our mission is to protect good cuisine and preserve it from the pitfalls of the standardization of taste, food fashions and industrial conditioning, as established by the statutory dictates. The Italian Academy of Cuisine has been doing this for 70 years – concludes D’Alessio – and its longevity shows that it does it well in Italy and abroad”.

The future of food and the food of the future constitute one of the great challenges that the world will have to face in the agri-food sector in the coming years. The FAO, in its 2022 report “Thinking about the future of food safety”, identified multiple factors that will affect food supply and safety in the world in the future. New agricultural production methods are needed in order to make the agricultural system more productive and more sustainable, and new non-traditional, alternative food sources such as novel foods.

The Italian Academy of Cuisine places itself as an attentive spectator of this phenomenon, from an exclusively scientific and knowledge perspective, beyond fashions and voices of dissent or consensus, with the firm belief that the consumption of novel foods must be a conscious choice not a hidden imposition.