Press Release: The Food Capitals Supports IGCAT’s World Gastronomy Summit Declaration

Through its partnership with IGCAT (International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism), The Food Capitals by Délice Network is proud to support IGCAT and many other global organisations, cultural leaders, policymakers, chefs, and producers uniting behind the World Gastronomy Summit Declaration on Food at the Heart of Cultural Policy and Community Well-being. 

The Declaration calls on governments, international organisations, regional bodies, and civil society to join us in:

• Recognising food as cultural heritage, and integrating it fully into cultural, agricultural, tourism, and education policies;
• Supporting local and regional initiatives that promote sustainable food systems grounded in evolving cultural traditions, promoting cuisine and its ingredients;
• Empowering youth and communities to preserve and innovate upon their gastronomic heritage with pride, investing in producers and protecting regions’ ways of life;
• Encouraging research and storytelling that document and celebrate food traditions across the globe;
• Fostering inclusive dialogue that bridges cultures and generations through the shared language of food.

This Declaration is inspired by the vision and values of The Food Capitals, that support a new food pact between urban and rural areas, founded on ethical public procurement; food education; food justice; support for local agriculture and promotion of gastronomic heritage.

The cut-off date to add your signature is 27 September 2025, when the Declaration will be announced at the 1st World Gastronomy Summit in Catalonia, World Region of Gastronomy 2025.

We hope this Declaration will stand as a milestone in a growing global movement that calls for gastronomy to be placed at the heart of cultural policy and community well-being. Together with IGCAT, we commit to nourishing both people and planet through the protection and celebration of one of humanity’s most profound cultural expressions — the food that defines us.

Originally approved by IGCAT members at their Annual Advisory Forum on 18 June, please add your name, as a member of The Food Capitals to the Declaration: https://www.worldregionofgastronomy.org/wgs-declaration/