Highlighting Greek Monastic Diet

The issue was discussed at length in a two day seminar organized by the ministry entitled “Monastic diet, agricultural production, and rural development,” at the Gastronomy Museum, at the Psyri neighborhood of Athens.

The agriculture ministry wants to underscore the importance of a monastic diet and gastronomy for the broader public, as it represents a continuity of the culinary habits of ancient Greeks as preserved through Orthodoxy and Byzantium and was the mainstay of Greek families until the 1970a.

At the same time, this effort is part of the framework to promote quality agricultural products and a Greek produce identity in order to support farmers, tourism, and the Greek economy in general.

During the conference, professors, doctors, and teachers presented the benefits of a monastic diet and how it can be linked to everyday traditional culinary practices and the promotion of local produce. Author and teacher Georgia Kofina stressed how cultural and religious antecedents determine culinary practices and have significantly influenced gastronomy.

Former head of the Athens Academy's ethnological center Aikaterini Polymerou-Kamilaki noted that 80% of our daily dietary habits are identical with the monastic diet, adding that an extension of POD/POP labeling may add monastic cultivations as small producers. As she noted monasteries have preserved traditional cultivation methods and seeds.

The monastic diet is based on seafood and fish, pickled preserves, legumes, fruit, vegetables, olives, olive oil, and bread, and is considered extremely healthy. As was noted at the conference, the diet, whole, or in parts, may be adapted to service particular needs for particular categories, such as athletes, or cardiovascular patients.