Consul General Countryman visited the city of Pollica, located in Campania’s Park of Cilento and Valle di Diano, Italy’s second largest national park.  Mayor of Pollica Stefano Pisani and Legambiente IVLP alumnus Valerio Calabrese welcomed CG Countryman and offered her a tour of the local “Living Museum of the Sea” and “Living Museum of the Mediterranean Diet,” both run by environmental NGO Legambiente.

Valerio Calabrese, who participated in a USG-sponsored exchange program for food and nutrition experts in 2015, emphasized the strong connection of the city of Pollica and its Museum with U.S. physiologist Ancel Keys, who resided in this small Cilento village in the 1950s and, by observing the dietary habits of the local inhabitants, first theorized the benefits of local food and lifestyle on health and life expectancy, and first introduced the term “Mediterranean Diet.”