Sustainable agriculture environmentally and human friendly and adoption of healthy eating habits as a response to the increasing impact of climate change. This is the core message of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (F.A.O.) for this year’s World Food Day.

 

«Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too» is the message of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations asserting that climate change, hunger and poverty must be addressed together. Rising temperature and extreme weather affect healthy and safe food availability and increase food insecurity, malnutrition and hunger. 

 

The Prolepsis Institute promotes healthy nutrition through intervention programs, as well as a wide range of campaigns aiming to raise awareness and to promote healthy habits in schools, in other organizations and in the private sector. The main related actions are the Program “Eu Dia…Trofin” and the “DIATROFI” Program on Food Aid & Promotion of Healthy Nutrition.

 

The Program “Eu Dia…Trofin” is designed and implemented by the Prolepsis Institute aiming to develop and disseminate the National Dietary Guidelines. The National Dietary Guidelines are addressed to a) the general population, namely adults from 18 to 65 with no particular health problems, b) women at the most significant periods of their life (pregnancy, lactation and menopause), c) babies, children and adolescents and d) the elderly. The National Dietary Guidelines are available to the public on the website http://www.diatrofikoiodigoi.gr.

 

Additionally, the “DIATROFI” Program actively addresses the problem of hunger and food insecurity among children attending schools in underprivileged areas throughout Greece. Healthy meals are distributed daily to all students of the participating schools: over 12.8 million meals have been offered to 90,000 students in approximately 530 schools nationwide. Moreover, awareness and health promotion campaigns aimed at endorsing healthy eating habits and lifestyles among students and their families are conducted through dissemination of educational materials, activities and informative events. The Program “DIATROFI”is implemented by the scientific team of the Prolepsis Institute in collaboration with scientific partners of the University of Athens School of Medicine, as well as other Universities in Greece and the U.S.A. The Program is managed under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, and is primarily funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. More information available on the website: www.diatrofi.prolepsis.gr. 

 

Lastly, the Prolepsis Institute, through its participation in social partnerships of the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD), provides consulting services and health promotion proposals for vulnerable social groups (printed material with inexpensive recipes based on the Mediterranean diet, cooking techniques, practical tips for affordable food shopping), contributing in this additional way to the fight against social inequality in the health sector. 

 

Through these various actions and intervention programs, the Prolepsis Institute puts in practice the message of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations by taking initiatives which contribute to facing the climate change. By promoting the traditional Mediterranean diet and the consumption of agricultural products and in particular those produced through sustainable agricultural methods (organic agriculture, methods of integrated management), consumption of red meat is reduced, and it is known that red meat production increases greenhouse gas emissions (through the production of feeding stuffs, breeding, transportation of meat etc.).