Exploring the Italians’ food habits and tendency towards a sustainable diet: The Mediterranean eating pattern

Abstract

Over the last few years, the Mediterranean diet has received growing attention as it represents a sustainable diet in which nutrition, local food production, biodiversity, culture and sustainability are strongly interconnected, with a low impact on the environment. By using repeated cross-sections of the ISTAT “Aspects of daily-life” survey over the period 1997-2012, we assess prevailing food patterns among Italians and explore the socio-economic and lifestyle determinants of their adherence to the Mediterranean diet.