Mediterranean diet in danger as Mother Nature turns up the heat

Italy’s heatwave has contributed to a dramatic slide in the production of grain this year, as well as the wine and olive oil.

Rising temperatures may mean southern wine producers will have to shift to more temperate environments such as the Langhe, in the cooler Piedmont region of Italy.

Italy’s heatwave has contributed to a dramatic slide in the production of grain this year, as well as the wine and olive oil that make up the traditional Mediterranean diet.

Coldiretti, Italy’s largest farmers’ lobby group, reported grain production was down 10 per cent this year due to adverse weather conditions, driving up the prices of staples such as flour and pasta that had already climbed because of the war in Ukraine.

Ignazio Gibiino, vice-president of Coldiretti in Sicily, said the average Italian family had spent €30 to €40 ($49-$66)) more on pasta so far this year as wheat producers were “discouraged” by bad weather.

“Italians are already consuming less grain-based products,” he said. “The cost could become a real problem if producers start shutting down.”

The island of Sicily, whose fertile soils and advantageous climate made it the breadbasket of the Roman republic, is now too hot for the optimal production of wheat, oil and vines, analysts say.

Those products remain pillars of the local economy, but with temperatures rising above 40C across much of the island this week, after abnormal bouts of ­torrential rain in May and June, crops on the island and in the rest of Italy have been battered.

Coldiretti said harvests of durum wheat, used in pasta, could fall 3.7 million tonnes this year. Production of soft wheat, used for bread and biscuits, could fall 2.7 million tonnes, after floods in Emilia-Romagna in May. The climate has also hit the ­cultivation of wine and olive oil, putting Italians’ traditional Mediterranean diet – hailed for its health benefits as well as its emphasis on fresh produce – at risk.

The streets in the Italian town of Lugo, in the Emilia-Romagna region, which was hit by floods in May. Picture: AFP

Milk production is down 10 per cent, because dehydrated cattle are stressed by the heat. Cherry harvests and honey production are down 60 and 70 per cent.

“Data shows children are increasingly ditching good-quality homegrown foods, especially in Italy’s south,” food historian ­Alberto Grandi said. “They are eating more sweets, cheap snacks and industrial foods.”

According to a study in May, only 13 per cent of Italians still follow a Mediterranean diet with plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and fish.

“The Mediterranean diet is more expensive than going to ­McDonald’s,” Mr Grandi said.

Sicily’s wine producers, famed for their full-bodied native reds, have reported falls in production. Antonio Rallo, head of the Doc ­Sicilia wine consortium, said native grapes were coping with the heat and rain, but international ­varieties had withered.

Luca Mercalli, a climatologist who has studied the impact of climate change on wine production, said rising temperatures meant southern wine producers would have to shift to more temperate environments such as the Langhe, in the cooler Piedmont region.

“We may be producing Sicilian wines in the Langhe, and in Sicily we’ll grow dates, because it will no longer be possible to produce wine there,” he said. “You’ll be seeing vineyards on Etna or other mountainous areas. New types of grape will be selected especially to resist new climatic conditions.”

Olive oil producers have been hit hard, with output in Sicily ­expected to fall by as much as 50 per cent this year, according to Mario Terrasi, president of the Oleum Sicilia consortium. “The crazy weather has damaged olive groves,” he said. “They are not great at resisting the heat.”

 

The scarcity is already pushing up prices, with bottlers buying Sicilian olive oil for €9/kg ($15) compared with €6 ($10) a couple of months ago.

Prices are also higher for oil ­imported from Spain and produced in Italy’s southern Puglia ­region, where groves have been ravaged by Xylella disease. As a ­result, Italy’s oil consumption has recently fallen 10 per cent, Mr Terrasi said.

However, as traditional crops wither, plants usually cultivated south of the equator, including coffee and tropical fruits, are prospering on the island. Consistently higher temperatures allowed for an “acceleration” in coffee production, with plants flowering in May rather than the summer, ­said Andrea Morettino, who runs a family roastery with his father in Palermo. “We have had highs of over 40C, and we are trying to respond to the way in which Mother Nature is helping us.”

The Times