Fourteenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

This research is on kindergarten and school gardens on the island of Hvar, which is a follow-up of the action research on the children’s eating habits within the broader theme of intangible cultural heritage of Mediterranean Diet (MD). Islands Hvar and Brač represent Croatia in the multinational inscription of the MD (together with emblematic communities from Italy, Spain, Morocco, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus). Mediterranean diet is recognized as a sustainable diet that advocates wise management and preservation of traditional food sources and agriculture, has an extremely low carbon footprint due to favouring short food supply chains, thus fostering development of rural communities and strengthening food sovereignty. The strengthening of small producers enables the conservation of endangered biodiversity, which is certainly one of the goals of global food policies. In recent years, several kindergartens and school gardens have been established on the island aiming to fill the gaps in ethnobotanical and agricultural knowledge and skills that are the results of major changes in the island economy in the 20th century. Turning from agriculture to touristic monoculture (rather successfully) sets new challenges to the protection of the island’s natural resources and traditional life. The role of children’s gardens in the Hvar is seen as a part of heritage learning and the transmission of agricultural knowledge and skills. But also learning practical culinary knowledge such as producing olive oil, making jams from seasonal fruits (both cultivated and foraged) and raising awareness of the importance of local food production and sustainability.