Petition to safeguard Italian Cuisine as UNESCO heritage
An initiative originating in Puglia seeks to strengthen protection for Italian Cuisine, recognized as an intangible heritage. Launched by Cia Puglia together with consumer groups, the petition outlines concrete measures to support local producers and the quality of raw materials that define Italy’s gastronomic tradition.
The campaign, available online, sets clear goals for institutions, businesses and public services to prioritize organic, PDO, PGI and nationallys
Main proposals
- Enhanced controls at borders and ports: comprehensive checks on 100% of imports to verify health, environmental and social standards.
- Priority for short supply chains: agreements and incentives to encourage restaurateurs and public services to use local raw materials.
- Clear labeling for pasta: a law requiring immediately readable country-of-origin information for wheat and certified supply chains for “100% made in Italy” pasta.
- Preference for certified Italian products: promoting the use of extra virgin olive oil, vegetables, fruit, milk, cheeses, eggs and meats from national production, ensuring quality and traceability.
- Information campaign: institutional actions to raise awareness across the supply chain and among consumers.
Organizers argue these measures are necessary to ensure fair remuneration for farmers and to counter unfair competition and imports that do not meet equivalent European standards. The petition calls on government and parliament to adopt effective rules and controls.
How to take part: the signature collection is active on the online platform indicated by the promoters; those interested can sign to support the requests to institutions.
The initiative frames the protection of Italian Cuisine within the broader goal of safeguarding UNESCO-listed cultural heritage: preserving practices and local products helps protect a shared cultural asset and the communities that maintain it.
Where it is
Coordinates: 40.7928393, 17.1011931
