Carlo Petrini

Once upon a time in the late 1980’s a man named Carlo Petrini organized a bold and powerful campaign against McDonalds.  The fast food chain was planning to open a branch of the golden arches near the Spanish steps in Rome. Carlo and his pals brandished bowls of penne past as weapons of protest and the Slow Food movement was born. He issued a manifesto which was a response to fast food, fast life, non sustainable farming and the erosion of local communities.

Today, Slow Food, is an international organization that is active in over 150 countries. Here in the US, Slow Food has over 200 chapters, I am a proud co-leader of the Westchester/Lower Hudson Valley Chapter of Slow Food.  This weekend, I had the fortunate opportunity to her Carlo Petrini speak at NYC’s new hub of delicious food, EATALY.

Here’s a taste of what Carlo spoke about.

Its very important to increase the dialog between science and traditional knowledge. I am reminded of  this often by my clients who have gotten lost in “nutritionism” and health claims and find themselves utterly confused when it comes to what to eat. Traditional food and culture has as much to teach us as high tech science does, perhaps even more.

Politics from grass roots movements move slow like a snail but go on and on. Small things bring great changes. This is part of what I try to impart to school food advocates who contact me through the Better School Food website. By taking a stand, we shift the culture of food in a school. And yes, the pace may feel snail like at times, but it makes a huge difference in the long run.

Carlo said that the two foundations of Slow Food are:

#1 Affective Intelligence this is intelligence that comes from the heart. Because we are a heart centered organization, many people feel compelled to get involved and volunteer. Being involved with Slow Food is a delicious form of activism, everyone loves to connect over a meal.

#2 Austere Anarchy I personally love the word anarchy which can be defined as a utopian society of individuals who enjoy complete freedom without government.  What Carlo said was we have the freedom to do anything. Slow Food chapters can do what they like. You can visit the Slow Food USA website to see the wide variety of events happening all across the country.

After Carlo talked, we ate. And ate. Amazing bread from Wild Hive Farms drenched in olive oil. Fresh mozzerella, crisp salad with pickled carrots and beets, varieties of fresh pasta, wood oven fired pizza, and of course, wine.  No one was counting carbs, that is not on the Slow Food agenda. Everyone was talking about farmers, Italy and the upcoming Terra Madre 2010 event instead.

This was a wonderful sneak preview of the adventure that I’ll be embarking on later this week as I leave for Italy en route to Terra Madre 2010: a world wide meeting of farmers, artisan food producers, educators and food activists.

Ciao for now!