Click the link below for details. Some snippets:
“Found to varying degrees in all countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, [the Mediterranean diet] was named in 2010 onto UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list for seven countries, from Croatia to Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Spain and Portugal.
But the diet, which the United Nations also praises for promoting hospitality, neighbourliness, intercultural dialogue and creativity, is going rapidly out of fashion.
“In Greece, it has decreased by 70 percent over the last 30 years, in Spain 50 percent,” Lluis Serra-Majem, head of the International Foundation of Mediterranean Diet, told AFP at a recent conference in Milan.
Less than 15 percent of the Spanish population still eats a Mediterranean diet, while 50 to 60 percent do so sometimes. Between 20 to 30 percent have ditched it altogether, Serra-Majem said.
And it’s the same in Greece, says Antonia Trichopoulou from the Hellenic Health Foundation. Unsurprisingly, over 65-year-olds are the best at eating traditional dishes, while the youngest generations have succumbed to the lure of fast food.
“The decline has various causes. We are witnessing a globalization of eating habits, with [the spread of] the ‘Western diet’,” said Serra-Majem, pointing a finger of blame at the growth of the tourism sector in particular.
It has been more marked in coastal areas, particularly in Spain or on Italy’s Adriatic coast.
“Uncontrolled tourism leads to high urbanization and… increased consumption of meat, refined flours and a reduction of the traditional diet, ” he said.
Source: Global push to make Mediterranean diet sexy again | Lifestyle | GMA News Online
Parker here. I doubt tourism is the major reason for the decline of the diet’s popularity.
Two diet books in one
Advanced Mediterranean Diet 