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Carlo Petrini
President and Founder of the Slow Food Movement
Born in Bra on June 22, 1949, Carlo Petrini became the president
of the
Slow Food Movement in 1986. All of Carlo Petrini's charisma,
passion and
conviction lie in the principles of the Slow Food philosophy,
which seeks a
rediscovery of authentic culinary traditions and the conservation
of the
world's quality food and wine heritage. However, Petrini's
contributions to
Piedmont, Italy, and the world, began well before 1986, as
he expanded on
his work for charitable organizations and ventured into politics
through
his pioneering of Italian independent radio programming.
Following this notable chapter in Petrini's life, in 1977
he was elected to
be an advisor to the mayor of Bra. His main contribution in
this capacity
was the founding of Cante' J'Euv, a week long revival of a
medieval
tradition, which would become the largest folk festival in
Europe. Over 200
musicians from Morocco to Sweden performed in piazzas, markets,
schools,
streets, and theaters around Piedmont. To involve the local
population and
save money, Petrini arranged for the artists to sleep in private
homes
harking back to the times when musicians would come to people's
farms to
perform.
Petrini began writing about wine and food in 1977. He wrote
for hundreds of Italian periodicals starting with the national
newspapers Il Manifesto and L'Espresso, doing the weekly restaurant
reviews. In 1983, Petrini was instrumental in creating and
developing the Italian non-profit food and wine association,
Arcigola, that had previously been a branch of a much larger
association called ARCI (Italian Recreational and Cultural
Association). Today, Slow Food boasts over 35,000 members
and 340 chapters in Italy. During the annual assembly meeting
in May 1986, Petrini was unanimously elected president and
has since been re-elected every year. Petrini founded Slow
Food as a response to the opening of a McDonalds in Piazza
Spagna in Rome in 1986. In Paris in 1989, the Constitution
for the International Slow Food Movement was undersigned by
over 20 visiting delegations from around the world. Today
the movement exists in over 50 countries and has over 80,000
members and supporters.
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