Carlo Petrini, President and Founder of the Slow Food Movement
Carlo Petrini was born in Bra, Italy on June 22, 1949. He began writing about wine and food in 1977, and has contributed to hundreds of Italian periodicals and other publications around the world. In 1983, Petrini was instrumental in creating and developing the Italian non-profit food and wine association, Arcigola. Growing increasingly frustrated by the industrialization of the food supply and the erosion of quality in the food he saw around him, Petrini began to forge alliances with friends and colleagues in and around the goals of bringing food back to its roots. In 1986 he founded Slow Food as a response to the opening of a McDonalds in Piazza di Spagna in Rome. He was elected president of the organization at its inception and every year since. Today the movement exists in over 50 countries and has over 80,000 members and supporters. Slow Food International is responsible for publishing periodicals, books, and guides that are read in many languages around the world. In 2004, Petrini conceived of a biennial conference called Terra Madre, for which 5,000 small-scale farmers, cooks and food experts gather in Torino to share knowledge and build connections. In addition, every year students from around the globe matriculate at the University of Gastronomic Sciences which Petrini founded in 2004, with campuses in the Italian regions of Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna. Carlo is the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Communicator of the Year trophy of the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London, The Sicco Mansholt Prize from Holland, an honorary degree in Cultural Anthropology from the Instituto Universitario Suor Orsola Benincasa of Naples, an honorary degree from the University of New Hampshire, and the Eckart Witzigmann Science and Media Prize from Germany. He was also named “Innovator” in the 2004 Time Magazine list of European heroes. Carlo Petrini's charisma, passion and conviction are reflected in the popularity of the movement and in the Slow Food philosophy, which seeks a rediscovery of authentic culinary traditions and the pleasures of the table, in addition to the conservation of the world's quality food and wine heritage. Carlo Petrini is a visionary who works to improve the world’s agriculture and food supply, one bite at a time.