The Center will work to preserve and advance adoption of Mediterranean dietary patterns, focusing on connecting leading-edge food and nutrition research with culinary, agricultural, and business innovation. TMC is open to Mediterranean, European, and other international partners.

The TMC is based at the Food and Nutrition Campus of the University of Barcelona at Santa Coloma de Gramenet. The Center offers two master's degrees with a focus on the Mediterranean Diet—past, present, and future—and a proposed Mediterranean concentration program for CIA bachelor's students. The academic programs at TMC are inspired by the traditional food cultures of the Mediterranean region and led by faculty from the UB and CIA, in collaboration with other universities and organizations around the world. The Center will also develop and conduct joint research projects combining nutrition and health, sustainability, food experience design, and food preference and food behavior change.

Through its conferences, symposia, and digital media initiatives, the Center will host chefs, culinary scholars, public health leaders, journalists, policy makers, and other international experts to develop strategies to translate the existing scientific evidence for the health and sustainability of the Mediterranean Diet into action.

"While the Torribera Mediterranean Center will have a strong, physical presence here at the University of Barcelona, the work of the Center will embrace the entire Mediterranean Basin and will have impacts internationally as we work with other collaborators to enhance the health and sustainability of global food systems and dietary patterns," says Dr. Joan Elias Garcia, rector of the University of Barcelona. "At the same time, working with our colleagues at The Culinary Institute of America, we have to redouble our efforts to preserve this gift of heritage that is the Mediterranean Diet, for this and future generations worldwide."

"The traditional Mediterranean Diet is the most heavily researched and documented cultural model for healthy eating," says CIA President Dr. Tim Ryan. "This ground-breaking academic center will, for the first time, bring together academics, chefs, other professionals, and business leaders from around the world to accelerate positive impacts tied to this delicious UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. As part of our continuing global outreach, we are honored to co-launch this partnership with the University of Barcelona to underscore the enhanced role that interdisciplinary scholarship, translational research, and marketplace innovation needs to play in advancing healthy, sustainable food choices."

For more information, or to register for the master's degree program at the Torribera Mediterranean Center (TMC), please visit www.tmcmediterranean.org, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or call +34 93 403 90 39.

Photo Caption and Hi-Res Image:
The Culinary Institute of America and the University of Barcelona are partnering to create master's degree programs focusing on the Mediterranean Diet. The initiative, called the Torribera Mediterranean Center (TMC), will be based in Barcelona. The TMC will also be home to a planned semester-abroad program for bachelor's students at the CIA. (Photo credit: Torribera Mediterranean Center)