Rethinking Portuguese Gastronomy in the European Context

A Manifesto and Programme of Action¹

This report attempts to provide an overview of how Gastronomy should evolve as it returns to normal and, in particular, how to involve the different players in the world of gastronomy and what role the State should play. What lessons can be learned and what opportunities can arise and be seized? In many respects, a necessary transformation of Portuguese gastronomy was underway that was beginning to bear fruit and that the current crisis is challenging but can also help reinforce and continue. Both the European Union, the Government and local authorities have a crucial role to play in supporting this transformation and in the economic and social aid necessary for the survival of this underlying economic sector but which can also help accelerate this transformation. It is up to the State, in conjunction with the different stakeholders in the sector, to design and implement a strategy to that end. This document is a contribution to this objective which also points out some possible initiatives to promote greater cooperation between all the agents in this sector.

The Covid 19 pandemic is destined to accelerate a transformation of gastronomy which will include social, health and environmental dimensions. In a way, Covid 19 has “anticipated the future” of gastronomy.

It is obvious that these issues were already being raised, and some of them with a certain severity (food safety, sustainability, seasonal and local regional production, and above all public health – obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases due to malnutrition). All these issues have long been raised and widely discussed (without the desirable results), but they are now posed with added urgency and seriousness.

In fact, there is (and there was) always a lack of capacity to “enter” the population and change habits and customs, especially in food. Education and clarification programmes” would be necessary, which would cost a fortune in publicity and dissemination, and with little expected results, given the well-known conservatism and aversion to change.

The OPPORTUNITY generated by the pandemic outbreak has definitively changed this situation. From now on there is an aptitude and desire in the population to change habits, being a very fertile field to spread precise ideas about food and nutrition.

This ability will not be maintained indefinitely, so not only each country per se, but essentially groups of countries (such as the European Union) should rapidly pool their efforts to establish a joint programme covering these various themes: food and nutrition, health and food safety, sustainability, promotion of foodservice, regional and seasonal cuisines and products, tourism, production and distribution, and finally a balanced and joint development of Food (Gastronomy) among all EU countries.

It must be pointed out to the authorities that this predisposition of the public to accept new rules, new concepts and ideas, new habits and customs, which exists today in an almost “miraculous” way, will fatally have its “period of grace” in the very near and short future, so success depends on the speed of action.

This is the philosophical basis of this work. The practical part is to design a set of practical measures to be implemented, which only starts here and is intended to provoke.

In this vision of the future, science and technology will also have a fundamental role to play in promoting this transformation.

Gastronomy is and should be one of the healthiest activities of the human being. It must also be conducive to the sustainable development of the planet. It must also continue to be one of the most “pleasurable” activities. Pleasure and fun also have a cultural dimension and must continue to be one of the great reasons to go to a restaurant, bar, canteen or someone’s house for dinner. Gastronomy can fulfill all these roles. To do so, it is essential to assume an integrated concept that brings together all the various sectors that contribute to making, as a whole, one of the most important economic activities²: from agriculture, fishing and livestock, to the food industry, distribution, restaurants, hotels and tourism. It is possible to enhance the joint valuation of these different areas and do so in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.

The European Parliament, in its resolution of 12 March 2014 on European Gastronomic Heritage: Cultural and Educational Aspects (R-point), incorporates this concept, defining gastronomy as follows: “Gastronomy is the combination of knowledge, experience, art and craft, which  provides a healthy and pleasurable eating experience”. This is only partially followed by the Farm to Fork Strategy presented by the European Commission which, being important and a fundamental step in promoting a more sustainable gastronomy, is still insufficient both in terms of what needs to be done and in terms of the necessary mobilisation of a wide range of stakeholders to make this transformation a success.

This document shares this vision by presenting a proposal, which we call the 4 S’s Strategy – Healthy, Tasty, Sustainable and Fairer, and which was conceived by the European Community of Gastronomic Culture (of which the Portuguese Academy of Gastronomy is part), together with the main associated actors in the world of gastronomy, for the different additional actions.

HEALTH AND GASTRONOMY

The population already understands that food is an essential factor to avoid possible diseases, but the new concept of healthy gastronomy should transform this idea into a form of positive mentality. In other words, health should not be conceived as a limit to enjoying food, but instead, food should be made and thought out in a way that improves health, while at the same time giving pleasure to the meal.

“Do not look for medicines you have to take because you have eaten certain foods; rather look for foods that will prevent you from having to take medicines”.

The way we eat and what we eat should contribute to improving our health. This has been reinforced by the pandemic as people have become even more aware of their health. Furthermore, at mealtimes and even during breaks, the current health emergency requires new health considerations to be incorporated into different aspects of the gastronomic chain.

In this respect, the following points are mentioned, which although not addressed in this Report, are recognised as important:

• Food production and food industry must take account of health needs, both in production and delivery methods and in the information provided to consumers. Seasonality should be more present in industrial and agricultural practices. The use of additives, processing techniques and types of ingredients should be reassessed.
• Distribution must be redesigned. The new digital and transport economy can make it easier to connect the producer directly to the consumer (P to C) by promoting more seasonal and less intensive products. This also increases efficiency and reduces food waste. New distribution sites may emerge, as well as the rediscovery of traditional farmers’, central and municipal markets. Supermarkets and gourmet shops should also rethink their distribution practices. It would be pointless if agri-food production generated healthier food and the processing and distribution industry made no effort to promote more health-conscious practices at these levels of the value chain. The challenge will not be at the level of production, logistics or distribution. The potential problem will be in prices, taking into account the financial availability of citizens. There may be sufficient supplies at the point of sale, but consumers may not have the resources to buy them. That is why the country must support investment in technological solutions and scientific research that can promote and accelerate these developments, while increasing its efficiency at all levels of the production and distribution chain.
• Private houses, restaurants and canteens. It is vital that people have the resources to eat healthily not only in their homes, but also in businesses and communities of all kinds. And fundamentally in hotels and restaurants, from the most elaborate to the simplest restaurants. This requires enhanced health considerations at all different levels. It is not enough, for example, to offer healthier alternative meals in canteens. It is crucial that health be a part of every meal. This requires that the taste and pleasure of food is not placed or perceived as an alternative to healthy eating. In this context, the role of chefs and food and nutrition educators will be crucial. A culture of health awareness must be internalised by these players, so that what they do for our pleasure is also more deeply and directly linked to what makes us healthy. This also requires that healthy foods are not constructed in a dogmatic and restrictive way and adopt a more open and balanced approach.

For this approach to be successful, it is essential to promote much stronger interaction between the different stakeholders (agents) in the world of gastronomy: between chefs and nutritionists, between them and food scientists, between all these and those who produce food or communicate on food. The creation of cooperative and networking effects between these different actors must be a priority.

In short: health must be integrated into all dimensions of gastronomy and its different economic sectors. As an additional contribution to this, a voluntary classification system (by a public body or by competing and independent civil society organisations) to which companies can apply or submit can be created.

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE GASTRONOMY

The financial difficulties that many will face after this pandemic will require even greater attention to the objective of incorporating criteria of solidarity and social justice in the different areas of gastronomy. This movement was already taking place, from concern for proximity and small producers to the involvement of renowned chefs and restaurateurs in social programmes. But the current crisis will increase the need to move in this direction.

A system of incentives should be implemented, for example, to empower and support all those in production, industry, distribution and markets who strive to generate proximity products, help prevent depopulation and enable healthy living and socially responsible production and to reach the final recipient.

We must promote the solidarity of Portuguese (and European) producers. In the same way that many movements are taking place to guide consumers to buy locally, Portugal should promote a “Portugal é de se comer” programme, reactivating the “Prove Portugal” programme. This programme should, at the same time, highlight the diversity of products throughout the country and invite foreign tourists and consumers to experience and support this diversity. Therefore, it should not focus on mass products, but on the protection of distinct and seasonal products from all our regions. At the same time, these products must meet certain environmental standards of how they are produced, distributed and consumed.

The emergence of social canteens, involving, for example, well-known chefs and/or not distinguishing between food for regular meals and social meals, which helps to qualify rather than stigmatise them, is an interesting development that should be promoted during the emerging social and economic crisis. Support for such social innovation projects should be a priority. Social impact headlines and impact investment projects can be created that seek, for example, to promote social distribution of food in restaurants or social reintegration through agricultural or foodservice projects.

Solidarity must be expressed at all levels and must involve all stakeholders in the food and gastronomy chain. For this reason, consumers should also show solidarity with companies and professionals in the catering sector, using new business models that complement traditional foodservice, such as innovative gastronomic experiences, or new forms of take away and home delivery including “boutique” businesses.

Public authorities can make a plea in this respect, but in particular they must change the legal structures in order to facilitate the necessary changes for both producers and restaurants to adapt quickly to new business models.

SUSTAINABLE GASTRONOMY

The “Farm to Fork” strategy recently presented by the European Commission and placed at the heart of the Green Deal Strategy, aims to promote sustainable food systems, linking healthy people, a healthy society and a healthy planet. Throughout the production, processing, distribution and consumption of food, the necessary measures must be taken to reduce air, water and ecosystem pollution and avoid overexploitation of natural resources. Following the recommendations of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the United Nations, all these issues should fit into the sustainable development strategy.

This requires involving the different stakeholders in the perception and pursuit of these objectives and the promotion of responsible consumption by citizens. The European Community of Gastronomic Culture, which prepared this proposal specifically for Portugal, with the support of the Portuguese Academy of Gastronomy, strives to promote these objectives at the different levels of its actions and intends to promote a stronger involvement of the different stakeholders to the same end.

We believe it is of crucial importance to support the European Commission’s “Farm to Fork” strategy, involving all stakeholders across the gastronomy world: from chefs to consumers, from scientists to farmers, from health professionals to nutritionists, from producers and restaurateurs to journalists and food critics. All should be involved in this new ethos on gastronomy, which links sustainability and health, without putting them under strain with the economic, social and cultural dimension associated with food.

As mentioned in the “Farm to Fork” strategy, “all citizens and operators in value chains, in the EU and elsewhere, should benefit from a fair transition, especially after the OVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis. The shift to a sustainable food system can bring environmental, health and social benefits, offer economic gains and ensure that recovery from the crisis puts us on a sustainable path“. In this respect, the pandemic can be a lever to advance and accelerate the shift towards a more sustainable food culture. For this to happen, an inclusive strategy, bringing together all stakeholders, is of paramount importance.

In this context, the establishment of the European Observatory for Gastronomy, provided for in the European Parliament’s Resolution of 12 March 2014, but still to be implemented, is even more urgent. With the same purpose in mind, the European Community of Gastronomic Culture and the Portuguese Academy of Gastronomy propose the immediate creation of a Portuguese Observatory for Gastronomy, which could contribute to the planning and development of a gastronomic strategy for Portugal integrating these different objectives. Such an observatory should mobilise the different stakeholders of Portuguese gastronomy, promoting cooperation and synergies between them and developing integrated strategies for gastronomy in Portugal. Such an Observatory would also enable Portugal to be at the forefront of the candidate countries in hosting the European Observatory for Gastronomy.

TASTY GASTRONOMY

The recreational and pleasurable aspect of gastronomy must extend from restaurants and eating houses to canteens and private residences and must be linked to healthy and sustainable dimensions.

Francisco Grande Covian (a medical researcher in nutrition and biochemistry) said that “people will eat what they should, if they want to“. Therefore, it is essential that healthy, fair and sustainable foods also have adequate sensory quality that produces satisfaction. Whenever possible, food should produce sensorial and psychic pleasure. It should be a factor of physical health and emotional balance.

This will be even more important when we enter a “new normal” after the emergency phase of the pandemic. People will want to have access to food that generates pleasure and satisfaction and share it with others. Socialisation and pleasure will become even more important in this new phase, but they will have to take place in a responsible way, both in health and environmental terms.

In a world full of uncertainty, gastronomy can and should be one of the activities that makes us a little happier, helping to alleviate as much as possible the problems associated with “emotional hunger”. Gastronomy is and must be the “industry of happiness”. But it must and can be so, respecting our health and that of the planet. To this end, it is again essential to involve the skills of the different stakeholders throughout the food chain, providing a platform for mutual involvement and the necessary cultural transformation that adds pleasure to health and social and environmental sustainability.

ACTION PROGRAMME

The European Community of Gastronomic Culture signatory to this document, with the support of the Portuguese Academy of Gastronomy, would like to invite public and private entities to take the necessary steps to adopt this new gastronomic ethos and develop a consistent strategy.

We call on all stakeholders, from farmers to chefs, from restaurateurs to producers, from scientists in the various fields of Health and Nutrition, to consumers, to adopt a healthy, socially responsible, sustainable and pleasant (tasty) approach to food and gastronomy. They should give it priority in their respective fields of action and also become involved in their own philosophy.

We urge public authorities at local, regional, and national levels to financially support this development, especially by expanding measures that support the food sector in this extremely difficult context and by linking these measures to the objectives of a better health and greater social and environmental sustainability, giving rise to responsible gastronomy throughout its value chain. Several studies show that gastronomic activity, with its different sectors, represents more than a quarter of the GDP of Portugal and the European Union. Many of these sectors are among those most affected by the pandemic crisis. This requires a wide range of measures, ranging from support for corporate liquidity to tax cuts, from support for environmental sustainability to training in these areas or in the nutritional field, for example.

These measures should be complemented by financial incentives and changes in the legal framework which could facilitate the changes envisaged in this document. Financial incentives should support initiatives in the different areas necessary for these changes to take place. Examples could include food education programmes in schools to avoid food waste or promote more agricultural sales to the final consumer. The legal framework needs to be much more flexible to allow for adaptability and innovation, in particular by facilitating new business models in all these different sectors of activity. Both financial measures and legal changes should promote, where possible, the involvement of different stakeholders.

Just as we call on the European Union to encourage and support this transformation in this crucial period, being consistent with its “Farm to Fork” strategy and the full implementation of the EP Resolution of 12 March 2014 on the European Gastronomic Heritage, we also call on the national authorities to act in the same direction

We suggest three actions that could be priorities:

• Create a “Portugal é de se comer” or “Prove Portugal” programme to disseminate information, promote consumption and protect the diverse heritage of local products from all regions of the country. This programme should map and disseminate the traditional seasonal products of the different regions and promote their consumption according to the seasons and their sustainability. It should involve communication as well as actions with chefs, producers and other stakeholders.
• Promote a programme for social innovation projects (O Sabor de Portugal) that can contribute to a more socially and environmentally responsible production, distribution and consumption of food. There are already some well-known examples of social innovation projects in the field of food consumption (such as projects that minimize the waste of food or social restaurants). This programme should help to promote more of these projects.
• To promote the establishment of the Portuguese Observatory for Gastronomy, which may work in conjunction with the European Observatory for This Observatory should bring together all gastronomic stakeholders (farmers, industry, chefs, health, scientists, journalists, etc.) to exchange information and cooperate in the development of a healthier and more socially and environmentally responsible gastronomic culture, while protecting the national gastronomic heritage. The Observatory should act as a platform bringing together the different stakeholders in specific projects.

---

1. This document is the result of a joint work of the Portuguese Academy of Gastronomy with the Royal Spanish Academy of Gastronomy and the European Community of Gastronomic Culture. It has also benefited from the contributions of different agents involved in Portuguese gastronomy (from producers to chefs, including scientists, entrepreneurs and journalists).
2. Estimated in some studies at over 25% of GDP.