Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini dies at 76

Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement, died May 21 at age 76. He spent decades promoting heirloom ingredients, regional food traditions, and small-scale agriculture, shaping modern organic and farm-to-table approaches. His criticism of industrialized food systems influenced chefs, farmers, and consumers to reconsider how food is grown and eaten. Slow Food began in 1986 after plans to open a McDonald’s near Rome’s Spanish Steps replaced a local cafe, sparking protests against homogenization of Italian food culture. By the mid-1990s, it became an international network of local chapters called Convivia focused on education, sustainability, and “good, clean and fair food.” In the Bay Area, Slow Food Russian River partnered with 4-H and FFA to raise heirloom-breed Thanksgiving turkeys, and Sonoma County North helped rescue the Bodega Red potato, now listed in the Ark of Taste.

"Carlo Petrini, the founder of the Slow Food movement and one of the world's most influential advocates for thoughtful eating, died May 21. He was 76. Petrini spent decades championing heirloom ingredients, regional food traditions and small-scale agriculture, helping shape the modern organic and farm-to-table movements. His criticism of industrialized food systems inspired generations of chefs, farmers and consumers to rethink how food is grown and consumed."

"The Slow Food movement began in 1986 after plans emerged to open a McDonald's near Rome's Spanish Steps, replacing a local cafe. The proposal ignited protests over the creeping homogenization of Italian food culture. By the mid-1990s, Slow Food had evolved into an international network of local chapters, known as Convivia, dedicated to food education, sustainability and the promotion of what Petrini called "good, clean and fair food.""

"For more than 20 years, Slow Food Russian River has partnered with 4-H and FFA students to raise heirloom-breed Thanksgiving turkeys. Meanwhile, the Sonoma County North chapter helped rescue the Bodega Red, a creamy pink potato introduced from Chile to the Sonoma Coast in the 1840s and later used by horticulturist Luther Burbank in breeding programs. Today, the potato is listed in Slow Food's Ark of Taste, a catalog of endangered heritage foods, and has become a prized ingredient among local farmers and chefs."

""A lot of the folks in the Sonoma North chapter really knew him because the chapter was one of the first in the country," said Donna del Rey of Healdsburg's Relish Culinary Adventures, a longtime Slow Food member. Visionary Berkeley chef Alice Waters helped promote the Bay Area's first Slow Food Nation mega-event in San Francisco in 2008, a groundbreaking celebration of regional, sustainable foods. At the time, she was the group's international vice pres"

Read at The Mercury News