Farewell to Slow Food founder 'Carlin' Petrini
The gastronome, journalist and promoter of sustainability in the food supply chain was 76 years old
Carlo 'Carlin' Petrini, 76, died last night at his home in Bra, near Cuneo. This was announced by Slow Food, the movement he founded in 1986 to promote the right to pleasure and good, clean and fair food for everyone. Born in Bra in 1949, Carlo Petrini, Carlin to everyone, was a gastronome, journalist, writer and - above all - promoter of a sustainable and fair food system. His fame had crossed national borders years ago. Named European Hero by Time in 2004, in January 2008, the Guardian included him, the only Italian, in the list of the fifty people who could save the world.
Among its many achievements are the creation of the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo (Bra), the first academic institution in the world to offer an interdisciplinary approach to food studies, and the Laudato Sì Communities. A network of about 80 territorial realities that, bringing together people of all faiths, united by love for our common home, operate in full harmony with the message of the Encyclical of the same name by Pope Francis, the first one that, in the version published by Edizioni San Paolo, has a preface written by a layman - Carlo Petrini in fact - who did not define himself as a believer. "Do I think about when I will no longer be here? Yes, but I hope to have laid the foundations for the work to continue,' Petrini, who has been ill for some time, told the Corriere della Sera in one of his last interviews.
of humble origins, a technical diploma and university in Trento left when he was four exams short of a degree in Sociology, the founder of Slow Food has travelled the world attending conferences, meeting the communities of the Terra Madre network, lecturing at prestigious universities and receiving several honoris causa degrees.
his contribution in the field of environment and sustainable development has also been recognised by the UN. In 2012, he spoke at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples in New York. At the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil, he participated in the global dialogue on food security and nutrition. The United Nations Environment Programme named him co-winner of the 2013 Champion of the Earth award for the category "Inspiration and Action" In 2016, he was appointed FAO Special Ambassador for the Zero Hunger Programme in Europe.
in 2019 Petrini took part in the Synod 'Amazonia: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology' in Vatican invited by Pope Francis, his friend as much as King Charles of England. In 2007, he was among the 45 members of the Pd's promotional committee, but he also had friends in the centre-right such as the former president of the Piedmont Region, Enzo Ghigo, who sits on the board of the University of Pollenzo.
