Carlo Petrini
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Carlo Petrini | |
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 Carlo Petrini at Identità Golose Conference 2010 | |
| Born | Carlo Petrini 22 June 1949 Bra, Italy |
| Alma mater | University of Trento |
| Occupations | Writer, Activist |
| Organization | Slow Food |
| Known for | Founder of the Slow Food movement |
| Awards | United Nations Environment Programme's Champions of the Earth award |
Carlo Petrini, AKA "Carlìn", (born 22 June 1949) is an Italian activist, author, and founder of the International Slow Food Movement,[1] and Terra Madre festivals.
Early life and activist career
[edit]Petrini was born in the commune of Bra, province of Cuneo, Italy. He was formerly a political activist in the communist Proletarian Unity Party (Partito di Unità Proletaria; PdUP). In 1977, he began contributing culinary articles to the communist daily newspapers il manifesto and l'Unità.[2]
Petrini studied sociology at the University of Trento where he got involved in local politics.[3] He began writing about food and wine for major Italian newspapers in 1977.[4]
Petrini has continued his advocacy work in recent year. In 2024, Petrini was a guest at the Italian Cultural Society's gala in Washington, D.C. In a speech at the Cheese 2025 event, he warned about the potential regulations on raw milk cheese production in Italy.[5]
Slow food movement
[edit]He first came to prominence in the 1980s for taking part in a campaign against the fast food chain McDonald's opening near the Spanish Steps in Rome.[2] In 1983, he helped to create and develop the Italian non-profit food and wine association known as Arcigola.[6] He founded Slow Food in 1989 and became the organization's president.[1] He is an editor of multiple publications at the publishing house Slow Food Editore. He has written weekly columns for La Stampa and is currently a regular journalist to La Repubblica. In October 2004, he founded the University of Gastronomic Sciences, a university devoted to new gastronomists and innovators of sustainable food systems. He is now a supporter and member of the Italian Democratic Party (centre-left wing). Petrini has also been proposed for politician roles, including ministerial positions.
Awards
[edit]Carlo Petrini has received numerous awards and acknowledgements including: Communicator of the Year at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London; Sicco Mansholt Prize in the Netherlands; honorary degree in cultural anthropology from the University of New Hampshire; and Eckart Witzigmann Science and Media Prize from Germany.[6] In 2004, he was chosen as one of Time magazine's heroes of the year.[7] He was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award (Champions of the Earth) in 2013.[8]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "You ask, they answer: Slow Food UK". the Guardian. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
- ^ a b "The Quick Brain Behind Slow Food, The Independent, 17 June 2006". Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- ^ "Carlo Petrini | Ashoka". www.ashoka.org. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
- ^ "Italy's "Slow Food" Pioneer: How My Love for Food Ripened into a Life's Work - YES! Magazine Solutions Journalism". YES! Magazine. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
- ^ Milk, Get Raw (7 August 2025). "Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini warns of prohibitive raw milk regulations in Italy". Get Raw Milk. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
- ^ a b "Carlo Petrini, President and Founder of the Slow Food Movement" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ The Slow Revolutionary, Time, 3 October 2004
- ^ Environment, U. N. (22 August 2019). "Carlo Petrini". Champions of the Earth.
Bibliography
[edit]- Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, and Fair, Rizzoli, May 2007, ISBN 0-8478-2945-6
- Slow Food Revolution: A New Culture for Dining and Living in conversation with Gigi Padovani, Rizzoli, September 2006, ISBN 0-8478-2873-5
- Slow Food: The Case for Taste (Arts & Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History), Columbia University Press, April 2003, ISBN 0-231-12844-4
- Slow Food Nation, a speech at Princeton University, 17 May 2007.
External links
[edit]- Time Heroes 2004
- Carlo Petrini: The slow food star , The Independent, Allison Roberts, December 2006
- Slow Food guru spreads gospel in high places, The Observer, Jasper Gerard, June 17, 2007
- 2006 Speech (simultaneously translated) from the Environmental Grantmakers Association, Fall Retreat Keynote
- Carlo Petrini speaks at Cowell Theater on YouTube, San Francisco, October 2005
