At her surgery in central Milan, nutritionist Francesca Noli is concerned by her fellow countrymen’s steady move away from the healthy Mediterranean diet.
“Since 2008 Italians are eating a lot more pasta and a lot more rice,” she tells me, explaining that such carbohydrates, which are cheap, fill you up quickly.
“But people here are eating far fewer fresh vegetables and fresh fish and meat – and when they do they buy discount food which is poor quality.”
She shakes her head. “I’m worried now,” she says, “but I’m very worried for the future.”
Today, one in three young Italians is obese and some 20 million adult Italians are overweight. Obesity is more prevalent in the poorer south of the country and nutritionist like Francesca Noli warn that cheap, calorie-packed fast foods and ready meals are largely to blame.
In a shopping mall on the outskirts of the city, an animated celebrity TV chef, Sergio Barzetti, is showing star-struck shoppers how to save money by bulk-buying seasonal vegetables like tomatoes and then canning them or making them into sauces for the winter time when the produce will soar in price.
Some of the shoppers scribble down his advice on the back of their supermarket till receipts.
“It’s true that the price of vegetables and fruit has become very expensive for ordinary families,” says Alfredo Gaetani from Coldiretti. “So we are trying to show people here today that there is still a way of keeping a healthy diet if you prepare food yourself.”
He smiles. “You know this kind of preservation of vegetables used to be a part of our heritage, part of our Italian culture. So we’re saying, yes there is a crisis, but let’s revamp the old traditions and live better.”
The call for a home cooking revival has worked well in Italy.
According to Coldiretti, a third of Italians are now making pizza at home and 19% are making their own bread.
But not everyone is a winner. According to the CNA, the Italian Association for Small and Medium Artisan businesses, 10% of small bakeries in and around the capital Rome have shut over the past two years.
In their sandwich and bakery shop in Milan, baker Oreste Montalto chats cheerfully with customers while his wife Sabina carefully puts slices of freshly-made pizza onto a tray on the counter. It is noticeable how few customers there are.
Dining and Cooking