MASTERARBEIT / MASTER’S THESIS Titel der Masterarbeit / Title of the Master‘s Thesis „Local food culture on the Greek island of Samothraki today and its traditional roots: Case study of a Mediterranean nutrition transition.“ verfasst von / submitted by Sarah Caroline Langoth BSc angestrebter akademischer Grad / in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (MSc) Wien, 2020 / Vienna, 2020 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt / A 066 838 degree programme code as it appears on the student record sheet: Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt / Masterstudium Ernährungswissenschaften degree programme as it appears on the student record sheet: Betreut von / Supervisor: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Marina Fischer-Kowalski 2 Affidavit I hereby declare in lieu of an oath that - The submitted academic paper is entirely my own work and that no auxiliary material have been used other than those indicated - I have fully disclosed all assistance received from third parties during the process of writing the paper, including any significant advice from supervisors - any contents taken from the works of third parties or my own works that have been included either literally or in spirit have been appropriately marked and the respective source of the information has been clearly identified with precise bibliographical references (e.g. in footnotes) - to date, I have not submitted this paper to an examining authority either in Austria or abroad - the digital version of the paper submitted for the purpose of plagiarism assessment is fully consistent with the printed version. I am aware that a declaration contrary to the facts will have legal consequences. Sarah Caroline Langoth Wien, 03.08.2020 3 4 Acknowledgments First of all, I want to thank my supervisor Marina Fischer-Kowalski for organizing and letting me participate in the project on Samothraki, a great setting to get an insight in socio- ecological research. Thank you for the patience and the profound knowledge. Furthermore, I want to thank Dominik Noll and the staff of the Institute of Social Ecology in Vienna for the organisation and their friendly support, even as an external student. I am very thankful for my experiences on Samothraki and my wonderful research team in the course of the numerous restaurant investigations: Christiane Brosche, Helene Dallinger and Julia Plattner, as well as our tutor Angelos Varvarousis. I truly had a fabulous time. Moreover, I want to thank the whole research team on site for the warm welcome and the great organisation, and all the other students for the interesting and inspiring time. I also would like to say thank you to Panos Petridis for the feedback on my concept design. A huge thank you to all the locals like Maria, Carlota and Theodora for helping me whenever they could in identifying the right contact persons and interviewees. My gratitude also to Katharina, Tasos and Vasilis from Camp Varades for the accomodation, the support and local knowledge and the great Greek coffees in the morning. Moreover, I want to thank all restaurant owners and other interview partners for their time and for sharing their opinions and knowledge with me. I want to thank Elena Gkotsi for all the nice and interesting hours of translating the cookbook and Daphne Deliyianni-Stergiou for the numerous E-mails and the detailled support in translating local terms. I am grateful for the support of my mother Ingrid Langoth for all the reading and her unlimitied believe in me. Special thanks also to Lisa Wehofer for the very precise proofreading. Finally, I am deeply thankful for my family and friends who accompanied and supported me in this whole process. Thank you for all the positive and also critical conversations and discussions, for the mental support, the patience and understanding. Thank you for giving me the strength to proceed, for all the little supportive gestures and for cheering me up. 5 1. Foreword ............................................................................................................................. 9 2. Introduction and theoretical background ...................................................................... 11 2.1. The traditional Mediterranean diet ...................................................................................... 11 2.1.1. Definition .......................................................................................................................... 11 2.1.2. History of research ............................................................................................................ 11 2.1.3. Characterisation of the traditional Mediterranean diet ..................................................... 12 2.1.4. Measuring the adherence to the Mediterranean diet ......................................................... 15 2.1.5. Health outcomes ............................................................................................................... 16 2.1.6. The Mediterranean diet as an example of a sustainable diet ............................................ 18 2.1.7. Unique characteristics of the Mediterranean diet ............................................................. 23 a) Fat and oil ......................................................................................................................................... 23 b) Alcohol ............................................................................................................................................. 24 c) Wild greens ....................................................................................................................................... 25 2.2. Nutrition transition ................................................................................................................ 27 2.2.1. Nutrition transition in the Mediterranean area .................................................................. 27 2.2.2. Drivers of the nutrition transition ..................................................................................... 28 2.2.3. Proposed strategies ........................................................................................................... 31 2.2.4. Alternative approaches – term explanations ..................................................................... 33 2.3. Greece ...................................................................................................................................... 35 2.3.1. Cultural history ................................................................................................................. 35 2.3.2. Nutrition transition in Greece ........................................................................................... 39 2.3.3. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet in Greece ............................................................... 45 2.3.4. Health status in Greece ..................................................................................................... 45 2.4. Samothraki ............................................................................................................................. 46 2.4.1. The island of Samothraki .................................................................................................. 46 2.4.2. Research on Samothraki ................................................................................................... 47 2.4.3. Cultural history of Samothraki ......................................................................................... 47 3. Methods ............................................................................................................................. 49 3.1. Conceptual Framework ......................................................................................................... 49 3.2. Research aims and questions ................................................................................................ 50 3.3. Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 51 4. Findings ............................................................................................................................. 55 4.1. Traditional food of Samothraki as reflected in the book by Anna Martezou (2005) ....... 55 4.1.1. Food culture of Samothraki .............................................................................................. 56 a) Basic information .............................................................................................................................. 56 b) Food at special occasions ................................................................................................................. 58 c) The kitchen, food storage systems and the use of fertilizer .............................................................. 60 6 d) The organisation of meals ................................................................................................................ 60 4.1.2. Ingredients used on Samothraki........................................................................................ 61 4.1.3. Recipes ............................................................................................................................. 63 4.1.4. Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 68 4.2. Current domestic food practices & adherence to Mediterranean diet patterns .............. 69 4.2.1. Nutrition transition on Samothraki