Naples, 8th April 2025

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At the University of Naples Federico II – a symbol of the Mediterranean Diet – we hosted the presentation of the book “iFood. How to Overcome Food Ideology” by Pietro Paganini.

The event offered an important opportunity for dialogue with some of Italy’s most respected nutrition experts, including Prof. Gabriele Riccardi, Prof. Antonio Colantuoni and Prof. Marcellino Monda, to explore the book’s key messages and the future of food education.

Three urgent and interconnected challenges took center stage: 

• The lack of nutrition education: There is a widespread gap in understanding how the human body works as a system that consumes and burns energy. It is essential to introduce basic knowledge of nutrients, food, and the importance of an active, balanced lifestyle from primary school onwards.
• Ineffective and counterproductive public policies: measures such as taxes, front-of-pack labelling, and prescriptive regulations are proving unsuccessful. Not only do they fail to support informed choices, but they also risk undermining local food traditions, restricting individual freedom and slowing the spread of knowledge.
• The rise of precision nutrition: the emerging paradigm of personalised nutrition is a concrete opportunity to put science at the service of individuals. It must be approached with scientific rigour, responsibility, and clear communication

The day concluded with the launch of a concrete initiative: to promote the Mediterranean Diet not as a passing trend, but as a balanced lifestyle – one that should be reintegrated into education programmes at all levels. 

Because food is knowledge. And knowledge is freedom.

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