Bread and Wine
If the “sacred” is history
“In Vino Veritas” — Il Gusto 29/03/23
I first felt the " sacred " presence in the bread and wine at my First Communion ceremony. First actual participation in a spiritual banquet. Religious rituals and powerful symbols. The transformation of life into another life. The body, the blood, the soul, and the sacredness of a moment that has spanned history: Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Etruscans, Romans; sap that unites the peoples of the “Mare Nostrum,” enriches the banquet and nourishes our identity.
This strange juncture between body and spirit has since gone beyond matters of faith, returning to me enriched with many other meanings. Keeping its material and divine substance intact but showing itself to my eyes as the body and soul of the Mediterranean, capable of shaping landscapes and making us appreciate the taste, value, and uniqueness of a “terroir.” As the nourishment of our history and an emblematic element of our “food identity.” Wine is a source of prosperity, flowing through the veins of our Lands, nourishing conviviality and accompanying the rites of encounter. Yet, its sacredness has recently been desecrated by labeling that sanctions its “dangers,” and its earthly nature has been endangered by global warming.
Precisely to guard it in a symbolic tabernacle and — as in a secular EU-caristia — express “gratitude” (εὐχαριστία) to it, wine, along with three other symbolic elements of the Mediterranean Diet, victims of the climate emergency (oil, wheat, water), was at the center of Mediatrama’s exhibition, EuCarestia — No Food Tomorrow, activating a reflection on the risk of a tomorrow deprived of these priceless resources. The occasion opened a profound dialogue on the centrality of Europe to ensure global food security. It awakened the “Mediterranean” collective consciousness, careful guardian of our heritage, guardian of our landscape, celebrant of our biodiversity, and guarantor of those quality products that, like wine, are the culture and identity of a lifestyle that, as Stefano Pisani, the Mayor of Pollica, reminds us, is “worth a heritage.”
The article “Pane e Vino. Se il sacro è storia” was published in the 03/29/23 issue of “Il Gusto” — “In Vino Veritas” — A special issue entirely dedicated to Vinitaly 2023
The Future Food Institute is an international ecosystem that believes climate change is at the end of your fork. By harnessing the power of its global ecosystem of partners, innovators, researchers, educators, and entrepreneurs, FFI aims to sustainably improve life on Earth through transformation of global food systems.
FFI catalyzes progress towards the UN Agenda 2030 of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by training the next generation of changemakers, empowering communities, and engaging government and industry in actionable impact-driven innovation grounded in integral ecological regeneration.
Through its Paideia Campus, the open-air laboratory of land, sea, and landscape biodiversity based in Pollica, in the middle of the Mediterranean basin, the Future Food Institute is formally committed to promoting the Mediterranean Diet as a framework for integral Ecological Regeneration and enlivening the concept of integral ecology through integrated approaches grounded in nature-based solutions. With education, innovation, and community for biodiversity, the Institute fosters active conservation of natural and cultural biodiversity, sustainable use of natural resources, and responsible innovation in the Mediterranean agri-food chain.
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