Magna Charta of Academia Barilla


The traditions of food and drink are as ancient as humankind, and by sharing them, people in all the world's countries share with each other the pleasures of gastronomy;
Gastronomy is a fine art, and it is based on the skills of those who produce food and drink, and equally on the knowledge of those who prepare and serve them;
The art of gastronomy is also based on the skills of those who write about, paint, photograph and sculpt the beauty of food and drink, along with who enjoy its pleasures;
and
The absence of programs to preserve gastronomic traditions leads to their disappearance, resulting in serious cultural losses, particularly for the geographical areas with which they are linked.

Academia Barilla is created with these founding principles and goals:

Safeguarding Italian food and drink traditions and gastronomic arts through educational programs and other initiatives for professionals and consumers;
Encouraging production of high quality food and drink by small and large producers;
Educating consumers about how their food and drink choices influence gastronomic diversity and richness;
and
Fostering research for innovation in the means of safeguarding Italian gastronomic traditions and cultural heritage.

In consideration of these founding principles and goals, We, the members of the Academia Barilla Advisory Board, declare that:

We support the founding principles and goals of Academia Barilla,
We agree to advance these principles and goals in order to spread knowledge about them widely by promoting Academia Barilla's educational programs, and by involving people in Academia Barilla's projects that protect valuable food traditions,
and
We undertake to participate in these programs, and to subscribe to their values, to further the educational promotion of Italian gastronomy throughout the world, in particular through:

Education and Culture
Promoting educational and cultural programs that expand the search for the roots of Italian gastronomy, promoting the culture of taste, of sensory perception, and of the finest tastes of Italian food and drink, and increasing the knowledge of the typical food and drink products that characterize Italian gastronomy.

Protection of Quality and Health
Educating professionals and consumers to recognize and purchase high quality products, encouraging research on proper balances between taste and health, respecting laws linked to agro-industrial food and drink production, and evaluating their impacts on the territorial diversity.

Selection and Controlled Origins
Encouraging the strictest quality designations and rules in food and drink production processes, protecting all food production steps by respecting the tradition in the art of cooking and conserving food and drink, and rediscovering tastes and smells of high quality products of Italian regions and geographic areas.Now therefore, in consideration of these goals, principles and programs, we, the undersigned, have affixed our signatures.

International Association of Culinary Professionals
James Beard Foundation
Oldways Preservation Trust
Associazione Italiana Sommeliers
Jeunes Restaurateurs d'Europe.