During the Congress, relevant academic, scientific and institutional figures from different countries will discuss the nutritional, cultural and anthropological aspects of the Mediterranean Diet, a millennium-old heritage shared by the populations of the Mediterranean basin.

The Grand Covian Award is granted to a figure of the scientific world and the Diplomas of Honor in recognition of a figure of another field’s career who have contributed to the dissemination of the Mediterranean Diet.

The President of the VIIIth Barcelona International Congress on the Mediterranean Diet is Igor de Garine, an eminent Director of Research at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris and President of the International Commission on Anthropology of Food (ICAF).

• http://congresodietamediterranea.info

There is no strong project without a strong evaluation.

In effect, an evaluation plan forces the partners to concentrate on impact indictors and to follow a strict methodology. The purpose is to obtain good results as well as a solid process quality.

It has been proved that general meetings are often more efficient when it comes to a general concern. This is why the coordinator has decided to invite all associated partners to take part in the 2nd Steering Committee meeting in Madrid which agenda focused on the evaluation plan.
A first plan was submitted in Paris in July but this meeting has been the opportunity to discuss concrete actions and to go deeply into the details of implementation and responsibilities.
The evaluator took notes about the constraints of time and budget in order to find solutions which would not hamper the quality of the actions.

After long debates, a clear structure has been identified which will lead the Work package leaders and all partners’ work.

After a one month tour, it is high time to assess the success of the operation.
“This Road Show was the achievement of ten months of intensive work for the Head Office and each country involved and it set its official launch,” says Nathalie Renaudin, Vice President for Institutional Relations and in charge of the FOOD programme.

It is thanks to the deep involvement of the national teams that this event was a real success.

“Everybody was personally involved and we saw different evolutions of the Road Show according to the different cultures encountered during the tour. The long line outside of the bus in Spain was truly memorable: it was incredible to see so many people waiting to participate in the bus activities and it showed the real interest of the public. Conferences on balanced nutrition in Belgium and Italy also gathered many visitors. The vegetable garden set out in Paris was marvellous. In addition, in Czech Republic, the shows organized by actors as well as the activities dealing with high cholesterol were really successful. On the French and Swedish side, chefs used a very original approach to address balanced food. Indeed, they performed cooking demonstrations and managed to show that taste and pleasure could be combined with balance. Finally, in four of the six countries, there was a 10-kg jacket that visitors could put on to realize the impact of excess weight on the body” tells Nathalie.

Campaigns targeting employees and restaurants were launched after this fruitful European tour and each country is now finalising its own tools, better adapted to their local targets.

In a nutshell, this is only the beginning of FOOD, many more beautiful actions are to take place in the six countries.

Paris, October 6th 2009

Brussels, October 7th & 8th

Stockholm, October 10th

Prague, October 16th

Milan, October 21st

Madrid, October 27th

More than 1500 visitors came and participated to the activities organised by the Accor Services teams and partners: AESAN, FDM, FOOD PRO FIT.

As a consequence of the crowd, each person had first to calculate its BMI with a nutritionist to go on board whereas the lower platform of the bus was dedicated to the FOOD e-learning DVD.

The upper platform offered seminars every thirty minutes, in which the partner FDM and nutritionists explained to the visitors what a balanced diet is and how to eat well.
In parallel, visitors could savour many Mediterranean specialties prepared by the Chef Mario Barrero as well as different original and delicious juices to vary the breakfast: such as a popular mix with carrots, oranges and strawberries.

Finally, people were invited to try a 10kg vest, aiming at demonstrating the impact of excess weight on the body.This event was a huge success, which confirms the need for information and sensitisation.

The campaigns of sensitisation directed at both employees and restaurants have just started through this great Road Show and each country is now working on dedicated tools adapted to its local targets.

• Follow the news on the website: www.food-programme.eu

Employees and Restaurant owners have been very sensitised thanks to specific communication tools for the event: newsletter, meal voucher advertising, leaflet, flyer, website, pedometers…

The representative of the Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e la Nutrizione (INRAN) supported the team by proposing a very appreciated test with videos describing the guidelines for a balanced nutrition.

Morever, people were invited to calculate the numbers of calories in a dish, in a recipe…
Meanwhile, many journalists participated in the FOOD press conference.

Besides visitors could meet up experts for an individual and personalized follow up.
Finally, they had the opportunity to try a 10kg vest, aiming at demonstrating the impact of excess weight on the body: a strong experience for those who tried!

The bus will be in Madrid, October the 27^th; don’t forget to follow the news on the blog and on Facebook!

The Bus on Náměstí Republiky

•    The Chef Martin Sindelar of the famous restaurant “Le Pavillon” offered many culinary demonstrations: appetizers, healthy sandwiches, fruit preparations, banana cake…

The Chef Martin Sindelar with a visitor

•    An exhibition was organized by STOB, the Czech partner: Iva Malkova presented food equivalences and answered the many questions. For example, people were amazed that industrial beverages could contain almost 44 pieces of sugar!

Exhibition about food equivalences

•    A show was offered by comedians: they explained what a balanced diet is and the equivalences of typical dishes in a very humoristic way.

The Show by comedians

•    Finally, people were invited to measure their blood cholesterol and be aware of their food habits.

• All the pictures are on Facebook!

Next stop of the FOOD Road Show: Milan, on October the 20th.

Despite the cold weather, public came and enjoyed different activities. The famous chef, Paul Svensson who works in one of the fanciest and most famous restaurants (F12), prepared for the event healthy sandwiches and typical tray models.

In addition, a questionnaire was presented by the nutritionist Christel Lynch from the Karolinska Institute, one of our partners. It was a ground for a deeper analysis of the nutritional habits through the help of the dietician computer programme.

The bus has just left Stockholm… direction: Prague next Friday! See you there!