The Army meeting has just ended at Palazzo Cusani: "The evolution of the feeding of soldiers: from the First World War to the K ration".
The meeting, promoted by the Army General Staff with the aim of highlighting the importance of a healthy and balanced diet, told through the evolution of the soldiers' "diet", from World War I to the present day.
The conference, introduced with a speech by Stefano Marroni, deputy director of TG2-RAI and head of the TG2 “Medicina33”, had the speakers, professor Antonino De Lorenzo, professor of nutrition and human nutrition at the University of Rome "TOR VERGATA", Brigadier General Stefano Rega, director of the Army and Colonel Cristiano Maria Dechigi, head of the historic office of the Army General Staff.
"The military historians have only recently discovered the logistics and the importance it has had and has in the war," explained col. Dechigi - but the military never could have had the luxury of ignoring it. "
"In this context - underlined General Rega - World War I constituted a large and ambitious test for the Italian Army which allowed to lay the foundations for a modern food logistics. Important were the innovations from the point of view of logistic and technological principles ".
The conference was concluded with a speech by Professor De Lorenzo who highlighted how "the governance of the nutritional transition, by the structures that deal with public health, must be oriented towards effective and healthy indications, in the action to combat diseases chronic-degenerative. It can give the Italian Army, in times of peace, an important role in maintaining the traditional Mediterranean diet and promoting healthy lifestyles. Particular sensitivity towards innovation is the adoption by the military forces, for the selection and recruitment, of the "Metabolically Active Mass" indicator, which is a real overcoming of the mere weight / height ratio. "
The event is part of the events connected with the commemoration of the Great War, a circumstance that represented the first important inter-regional socialization experience in Italy that was recently unified. Finally, it is emphasized that World War I contributed significantly to the creation of national identity, also from the point of view of culinary culture, and of the consequences that the military kitchen had on the eating habits of Italians.
