When it comes to Italian food, not many would doubt that it's one of the world's favourite cuisines. That may be the case, however Italys' residents are having to forgo their pasta dishes and fresh fruit and vegetables in the wake of the food crisis and spiralling prices of staple ingredients.

Pasta too Expensive
With wheat prices rising 130% since March 2007, the average Italians' shopping basket is looking quite different, as sales of pasta have dropped by 2.6% in the last 12 months. The Italian Farmers' Confederation (CIA) reported that basic, low-cost protein sales such as chicken and eggs were up by 3.8% and 4.2% respectively, prompting the Corriere della Sera newspaper to remark that the results "read like the shopping list of an impecunious student living away from home."

Pasta is Italian Culture
The newspaper lamented the downturn in traditional Italian food in favour of cheaper alternatives, "Sales are falling of the products which are the symbols of Italian cuisine. Pasta is not just part of our diet, it is part of our culture."

Italians giving up Fruit
In addition to the international food crisis playing havoc with what Italians can afford, there has been a reduction in the last decade of the amount of dietary fibre consumed in the form of fruit and vegetables. Normally these are the cornerstones of a healthy Meditteranean diet, however with more women going out to work rather than staying at home, and an increase in the distance between the home and the workplace, people are left with less time. Marcello Ticca of the Italian Institute of Food Research and Nutrition summarised, "Who has time to prepare and cook vegetables any more?"