ARCHIVE – The Italian food activist and “Slow Food” founder Carlo Petrini has died at the age of 76. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa
Keystone
It began with a protest against a McDonald’s branch in Rome, which turned into a worldwide network for good nutrition: the founder of the global Slow Food movement, Carlo Petrini, has died at the age of 76.
The Italian died on Thursday evening after a long illness in his home town of Bra, a community of 30,000 inhabitants in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, according to the organization.
Petrini played a major role in ensuring that many countries now pay attention to better nutrition. He was often referred to as a “pleasure rebel”.
He founded Slow Food in the mid-1980s with the aim of promoting a “right to enjoyment” as well as good, clean and fair food for everyone.
Counter-model to McDonald’s & Co.
The movement is now represented in more than 160 countries, including Germany. It sees itself explicitly as a counter-model to the so-called fast food from the USA.
The movement thrives on local groups that organize cooking courses, tastings and visits to producers.
Petrini – or “Carlin”, as most people called him – was born in Bra in 1949. As a leftist, he saw himself as part of the 1968 movement. After abandoning his sociology studies, he worked as a restaurateur, journalist and writer.
In July 1986, he launched the Agricola initiative in his home country, which then became Slow Food Italia.
A meal at the Spanish Steps
The reason was that the US company McDonald’s wanted to open a branch in Piazza Navona, one of the most famous squares in the Italian capital.
Together with friends from Piedmont – the group called themselves “Friends of Barolo” after the local wine of the same name – Petrini organized a large meal at the Spanish Steps in Rome. This then became Slow Food.
He named three terms as the basis of his food philosophy: “Buono, pulito e giusto.” (“Good, clean and fair”). The Slow Food logo is a vineyard snail as a symbol of slowness.
In December 1989, delegations from 20 different countries signed a manifesto in Paris that made Slow Food international. Slow Food Germany was the first national association to be founded in 1992 and today has more than 13,000 members.
Petrini was president of the international organization until 2022. He then retired for health reasons.
The announcement of his death said: “His energy, his extraordinary empathy, his drive and his example of life will be the force that will guide us all.”
Many awards
Petrini was also one of the founders of the University of Gastronomic Sciences in the Italian town of Pollenzo, which pursues an interdisciplinary approach to the study of nutrition. Today, several hundred students from all over the world study there.
The international network Laudato si, which unites people of different faiths, also goes back to him. It is named after an encyclical by Pope Francis, who died last year. Petrini himself described himself as a non-believer.
In 2004, he was named one of the “Heroes of Europe” by the US magazine “Time”. In 2008, the British daily newspaper “The Guardian” included him as the only Italian in a list of 50 people who could save the world.
Petrini has made several appearances at major international meetings such as United Nations events and climate summits.
He repeatedly promoted a diet based on regional products. He explained: “It is irresponsible to buy tomatoes from southern Italy that are harvested by Africans for three euros an hour. Or an organic pear from Argentina that is flown across continents.”
We should never forget how important good nutrition is, even in modern times. “We don’t eat computers. We eat eggplants and tomatoes.”
“Those who sow utopia will reap reality”
His motto also included the sentence: “He who sows utopia will reap reality.” Petrini had been ill for some time.
In one of his last interviews, he told the Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera”: “Do I think that one day I won’t be around anymore? Yes, but I hope that I have laid the foundations for the work to continue.”
Dining and Cooking