If you have ever been to
Italy and experienced the pure bliss of eating at a local “trattoria” (a small
eatery famous for its home-style cooking), enjoyed an authentic pizza in
Naples, or a “fettuccini alfredo” in Rome, then you must have wondered about
the secret behind
Italian food. Wonder no more, it is the country’s unique
agricultural heritage!
اضافة اعلان
And if you have contemplated
the question, how come food just does not taste the same here at home, then
you’ve come to the right conclusion: Our agricultural practices lack the nuance
and the high standards that could shift our everyday culinary experiences into
a higher gear.
This article argues that to
bring back mouth-watering depth of taste to our food, all we need to do is
rethink our agricultural ways from the ground up, and follow the lead of our
Mediterranean neighbor, Italy.
In fact, this opinion piece marks
the one-year anniversary of the Ministry of Agriculture’s unveiling of its
2020–2025 National Agricultural Development Strategy, designed to boost
Jordan’s long-term food security.
With its fierce rejection of
highly-processed foods, Italy’s rich and famous food culture offers much more
than meets the eye. This beautiful country’s nature-respecting agricultural
practices are the reason why it has acquired an unparalleled reputation for its
agri-food products.
The Mediterranean Basin is
shared among 21 countries across three continents, yet Italy is unequivocally
the key contributor to this region’s healthy nutritional system, known the
world over as the “Mediterranean diet”.
One of the most scenic
countries in the world and home to the tastiest food recipes, Italy has brought
to the fore the health benefits of eating simple, yet delicious, high-quality ingredients
like olive oil, fresh tomatoes, and pasta.
Another observation about
Italy is it never shies away from small-scale farming. In fact,
Italians encourage small, family-owned farms that often have an artisanal flare and a
passion for craftsmanship.
This
love for quality and attention to detail can be seen in every corner of this
culturally-rich country, where many restaurants highlight the source of their
ingredients in their food menus. Many also tell us about the “orto” (small
garden in Italian), from which their vegetables come from, in celebration of
this intimate process of making food.
In principle, Jordanians,
especially in rural areas, have a very similar tendency to indulge in foods
cooked in locally-pressed olive oil or homemade ghee, and using ingredients
straight from the land. But in urban settings, such down-to-earth propensities
have gotten lost in a sea of canned foods, lack of sound agricultural
strategies, and a warped understanding of the connection between high-quality
farming and good-quality food.
Jordan can look no further
than Italy’s philosophical approach to agri-food industries. From farm to
table, Italy has a complex agri-food sector that is rooted in quality and, dare
I say, culinary “conscientiousness.”
Whereas observing ethics
seems to irk more than just a handful of people, Italy’s success story and its
high ethical standards that govern its gastronomic world, are exactly why this
country is a major agricultural leader, whose experience could be seen as a
roadmap for emerging agricultural economies.
For example, Italy happens
to have the “greenest” agriculture in Europe with a record cut of 20 percent in
pesticide use from 2011 to 2018, crowning it as a leader in food safety.
Jordan, which, more often than not, finds its agricultural exports stranded at
border crossings for their high pesticide contents, can find inspiration in
this.
All of this points to the
Italians’ intrinsic respect for nature and biodiversity, coupled with a deep
fascination with their country’s own culinary history and local food
traditions.
Their strong passion for food heritage and unwavering commitment to
clean food that is free from
genetically modified organisms (GMOs), are the
backbone of their legendary “Made in Italy” food.
As a matter of fact, Italy
is the birthplace of the “slow food” movement that has made its way across continents,
where more and more people are choosing to consume higher quality ingredients,
grown conscientiously, and to the highest environmental standards.
It is no coincidence that
Rome has been the headquarters for the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) since its inception in 1945.
This has positioned it as a
trendsetter in the European Union, where we often see Italians calling on the EU
to adopt higher agri-food standards to match those of Italy’s, especially in
its unwavering renunciation of GMO seeds and any other unhealthy farming
methods.
In Jordan, it is unclear if
GMO seeds, and food products that include GMOs, are banned or not.
Different news
reports share different conclusions. One report says GMO seeds were banned in
2017, while another published in 2018 says an alliance of 43 civil society
stakeholders announced their “absolute rejection” to a proposed decision by the
Jordan Food and Drug Administration to allow the entry of products with GMOs
into the country. Another site says, products with GMO labels are banned from
entry.
Why this kind of information is hard to find is yet another example of
the failure in communication that plagues our public institutions. Agricultural
communication is yet another area that we could improve on.
But there is a silver
lining! Last year in July, top officials at the Jordan Agricultural Research
Center told reporters about the center’s seeds bank, storing around 4,000
heirloom seeds of wheat, barley, lentils, chickpeas, and more. This is a
lifeline for Jordan, especially if the country decides to make an effort to
reintroduce its own heritage agricultural produce.
Jordan can then build
marketing campaigns that highlight these old food heritage stories, allowing us
an almost instant entry into markets like the European Union, where food
story-telling and quality are in high demand.
Italy has much to offer in
this area.
According to the Italian farmers’
association, Coldiretti, Italy has about 40,000 Italian farms that are committed
to preserving seeds and plants at risk of extinction. Such farms are part of a
nationwide program that aims to conserve Italy’s agricultural tradition.
With more ideas and case
studies to be explored, the Italian agricultural know-how can offer us the
needed inspiration to kick start our own agri-food renaissance, giving us the
opportunity to experience cleaner ingredients, tastier food, and better health.
Just like the majority of
Italians believe the “Made in Italy” icon is a reflection of their homeland’s
attention to quality ingredients — with the
consumer’s good health being at the heart of the food equation — we can turn
the tide for ourselves, locally.
With
enough drive, vision, and commitment, we can bring our “
Made in Jordan” agri-food
products to the highest standards possible, supercharging them with the
competitiveness they deserve to enter international markets.
Read more Opinion and Analysis
Jordan News
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