25 years of “Made of Italy”: Protecting Italy’s Traditional Foods

Oct 28

Oct 28 25 years of “Made of Italy”: Protecting Italy’s Traditional Foods

See high resolution version of this project here.

“Clint Eastwood, you should be our mayor” was the chant of a group of Italians gathered in front of the Spanish Steps in the heart of Rome in the Spring of 1986. The American actor and director had recently cracked down on fast food restaurants in Carmel, California, where Eastwood had become the mayor. Coincidentally, The Italians were there to protest the building of an American fast food chain restaurant, McDonalds in the famous courtyard of their cherished monument. Despite the fact that you can go visit this McDonalds in Rome today, This protest became the birth of the Slow Food Movement which is now an international organization dedicated to food production and consumption that is good, clean and fair. In other words, food that is healthy, sustainable and is accessible to producers and consumers. It’s one of the latest Italian installments to a long heritage of having pride in local food production and cuisine.

Through migration, mobility, and globalization the world’s palette has come to recognize that when it comes to food, it turns out, our ancestors ate well. “Gastro-Tourism” is booming as millions of people will pay extra and travel far for “authentic” cuisine with historic ties. In the early 19th century, as Italians left their homeland, they developed a tradition of holding out for imported foods from home. Italian Immigrants became the “gateway” to exotic, exciting food products. When met with distrust and prejudice, Italian Immigrants creatively used food to gain acceptance in their new countries by opening restaurants, bakeries, and delis. They combined food from the “old world” with what they had access to in the “new world.” This version of “Italian food” has become beloved by people across the globe, and renowned for its quality. It is for this reason, many have tried to emulate and “fake” this quality. Italians have a fierce pride in their food, hence the spirited protest against the American fast food chain.

In response to the growing number of products using the name and appeal of well known and liked food products that were cultivated and perfected over centuries and generations of Europeans, The European Union developed 3 schemes of geographical indications and traditional specialties, known as protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG), promote and protect names of quality agricultural products and foodstuffs. According to the website, “Product names can be granted a 'geographical indication' (GI) if they have a specific link to the place where they are made. The GI recognition enables consumers to trust and distinguish quality products while also helping producers to market their products better.” Effectively, it makes it illegal for a food company/producer to use the name of one of these products in Europe, unless this product is actually from the geographical area, is a part of the food product’s consortium and follows certain production and preparation guidelines.

As of March of 2021, Italy has more food products with a geographical indication than any other European Country. I believe the 314 foods that have received this highly prized designation are a testament to Italian food sovereignty and an interesting list to explore. What foods do Italians choose to protect? Are these the foods they truly cherish most?

To be considered for designation, there is a lengthy application process that requires powerful lobbying. An individual food producer can not apply to the European Union. First, a consortium or collection of food producers developing the product must be organized and created. This group then applies through the Italian government, if accepted, they then can go on to apply to the European Union. After being accepted, each food product is registered on the European Union website.

With that in mind, I decided to visualize all 314 protected Italian food products. I thought this would be a great way to learn more about Italian food. I downloaded this dataset from the EU Geographical Designations Register in March of 2021. When I started out this project, I was expecting to see clear-cut regional differences. I suspected meat and cheese products to be from Northern Italy and bread, cereals, and vegetables to be in southern Italy. I also expected Northern Italy to have more designated products, considering that the south is more rural, but also may lack the political/social power it might take to lobby for a designation. I also was interested in the chronological story of the 314 present designations- What did Italy want to protect first? Does this mean they value these products more? I also just wanted to get to know the individual products. I had expected to get to know lots of pastas and olive oils with a little bit of cheese and meat.

To answer my questions and explore my hypotheses, My visualization breaks out the designated food into their Italian regions but also displays them on a 25 year timeline- the database available online starts in 1996, despite the quality schemes being developed and implemented earlier. I also used shape and color to distinguish food and designation type. I used this opportunity to visualize every individual food product in hopes of picking up on patterns.

What I found was not as “clear cut” as I had thought. The 314 Italian food products that have a EU designation are diverse. A testament to the diverse regions and custom of the Italian people. I share some of this analysis in the infographic itself. After completing this project, I realized that these designations are just part of the story. For instance, Slow Food International has developed its own designation of traditional foods through their “Arc of Taste” project. As of October 2021, they have 1,091 foods listed for just Italy.

I really enjoyed this project and have decided to expand upon it some more and will featuring some of the products on my instagram using the hashtag #25yearsofmadeinitaly. I look forward to learning more about the complex and interesting history and tradition behind Italian cuisine.