Ovaj će rad nastojati u kratkim crtama opisati konceptualne transformacije mediteranske prehrane od druge polovine 20. stoljeća do danas. Ovaj nesumnjivo popularni prehrambeni model, koji objedinjuje različite prehrambene kulture Sredozemlja, isprva je prepoznat kao zdravstveno blagotvoran, nudeći pomoć u prevenciji kardiovaskularnih bolesti. Početni impuls globalne popularnosti prehrambene kulture Sredozemlja, koji dolazi iz medicinskih i nutricionističkih znanosti, dugoročno je pripomogao pojednostavljenju složenih prehrambenih sustava Sredozemlja koji se od 2000-ih počinju prepoznavati kao homogeni kulinarski i kulturni obrazac. Nakon što je mediteranska prehrana 2010. godine upisana na UNESCO-ovu Reprezentativnu listu nematerijalne kulturne baštine čovječanstva, razumijevanje ove prehrambene kulture nesumnjivo se promijenilo. Danas mediteranska prehrana dobiva svoje nove artikulacije unutar politika održivog razvoja, očuvanja bioraznolikosti i ekosustava koje dugoročno nastoje razviti nove političke i ekonomske modele u okviru nužne transformacije trenutnih prehrambenih sustava prema zelenijim i održivijim rješenjima. This paper will try to sketch the conceptual transformations of the Mediterranean diet from the second half of the 20th century to the present. This undoubtedly popular food model, which combines various food cultures of the Mediterranean, was initially recognized due to its health benefits, contributing to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. The initial impulse for the global popularity of the Mediterranean food culture, which came from medical and nutrition sciences, has helped simplify, in the long run, the complex food systems of the Mediterranean, which have been recognized as a homogeneous culinary and cultural pattern since the 2000s. After the Mediterranean diet was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, the understanding of this food culture changed. Today, the Mediterranean diet is being examined within the context of sustainable development policies and the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems with the aim of developing new long-term political and economic models within the necessary transformations of present food systems towards greener and more sustainable solutions.