Story Ideas & Stats

We spend a great deal of time working with journalists to help them produce gripping stories about the Mediterranean Diet. Call us. We're happy to flesh out ideas and think of an angle that's perfect for your audience.

Story Ideas

» Make Each Day Mediterranean: Your Guide to the Diet

» From Your Cart to Your Kitchen: Bringing Home the Med Diet

» Five Mediterranean Diet Superfoods to Include in Your Diet Now

» Giving the Typical Western Diet a Mediterranean Makeover

» Olive Oil: America's new kitchen staple

» Why Cardiologists Recommend the Mediterranean Diet

» The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid Turns 15

» The Mediterranean Diet: Finally something scientists agree upon

» Eat Fat, Get Skinny

» Behind the Scenes in a Mediterranean Cook’s Kitchen

» Mediterranean Foods that Boost Brain Power

» Seven Days to Better Health

» 10 Ways You and Your Family Can Live Longer, Healthier Lives

with the Mediterranean Diet

» The Mediterranean Diet: Save money, eat better

» Five Mediterranean Foods Every 40 year-old Woman Should Eat

» Mediterranean Madness: An American Invasion

» Protect Your Unborn Child with the Mediterranean Diet

Stats

» Mintel Menu Insights, which tracks US restaurant menus, listed Mediterranean food as one of their five trends for 2009:

"More Mediterranean – Encompassing the flavors of Spain, Italy, Greece and the Middle East, Mediterranean food is already relatively popular in the US. But in 2009, restaurants will stretch beyond familiar items like tapas, gyros and hummus. Menus will begin to call out the specific country of origin for “Mediterranean foods” like Spanish olives, Greek cheese and Middle Eastern yogurt sauce. Also, more authentic Mediterranean dishes may appear in fast casual restaurants." 1

» Health Magazine listed the Mediterranean Diet as one of their "Top 10 Healthy Eating Stories of 2008:"

"People who eat a strict Mediterranean diet are at less risk of developing heart disease, cancer, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's disease, Italian researchers reported. A traditional Med diet is rich in olive oil, grains, fruits, nuts, vegetables, and fish, and includes a moderate amount of red wine. It is low in other alcohol, meat, and dairy products." 2

» In 2007 alone, more than 100 scientific studies were published supporting the health benefits of eating a Mediterranean-style Diet.

» The Mediterranean Diet once again topped Google's top 10 most searched for diet list in 2007. 3

» The Mediterranean Diet, once again, made the National Restaurant Association’s What's Hot What's Not Chef Survey. 4

» The Mediterranean food category continues to achieve year-over-year growth in the 35% range. 5

» U.S. imports of olive oil have quadrupled over the past 20 years. 6

» According to the Canadian Agri-Food Exporters’ U.S. Ethnic Food Market report:

“Mediterranean foods (i.e. particularly Greek), cited as a major emerging ethnic cuisine in the North American marketplace, gained huge popularity in 2007. The consumer trend toward wholesome, boldly-flavored ethnic food has grown considerably in recent years, largely due to Mediterranean cuisine having been marketed as a healthy diet option in the United States since 1993.” 7

1. Mintel International. Mintel Menu Insights. Available at: http://www.mintel.com/menuinsights.htm. Accessed on December 18, 2007.

2. Health. Top Ten Healthy Eating Stories of 2008. Available at: http://slideshows.health.com/slide_shows/10371/slides/11417

Accessed on December 16, 2008.

3. 2007 Year End List Zeitgeist. http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2007/. Accessed on June 12, 2008

4. What's Hot & What's Not Chef Survey. National Restaurant Association. 2007.

5 Julie Gallagher. Mediterranean Aisles. Supermarket News. Available at: http://supermarketnews.com/center_store/mediterranean_aisles/. Accessed on: October 29, 2007.

6. North American Olive Oil Association. US Imports of Olive Oil :1982 to 2006. US Department of Commerce and the International Olive Oil Council. Accessed on: May 2007.

7. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. United States Ethnic Food Market: Opportunities for Canadian Agri-Food Exporters. Available at: http://www.ats.agr.gc.ca/us/4489_e.htm. Accessed on: June 2008.