LONDON, England (CNN) -- Famed for keeping people slim, healthy
and living longer, the Mediterranean diet has followers all over
the world. Cultural treat? Moves are underway to get the
Mediterranean diet on UNESCO's world heritage list. However, the
diet is being increasingly shunned by people who live in the Med
as the convenience of fast food gains popularity. The renowned
low-fat, high-fiber diet has "decayed into a moribund state" in
its traditional regions, according to the United Nations Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO). So sharp is the decline that
governments from the region are scrambling to protect their
traditional fare from becoming an "endangered" species.
Populations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, such as Greece,
Spain and Italy, tend to eat these foods, and governments there
have joined forces to apply for their diet to be placed on the
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organization's (UNESCO) Heritage list. Those lobbying for UNESCO
protection have argued that its