Carlo Petrini, the man who turned a protest against a McDonald's in Rome into a global movement, is dead at 76. The founder of Slow Food passed away this morning. His legacy? A fundamental shift in how the world thinks about what it eats.
Petrini wasn't just a foodie. He was a political operator. A strategist. He saw the battle for taste as a battle for the soul of society. The man understood power. He knew that the supermarket shelf was a battlefield. The plate, a political statement.
Started in 1986. A protest against the opening of a fast food joint near the Spanish Steps. A small group. Locals. Radicals. They argued for something radical: that food should be good, clean, and fair. That was the creed. Three words. A manifesto.
Petrini built a machine. A network of 100,000 members across 160 countries. He cajoled, persuaded, and arm-twisted. He made alliances with chefs like Alice Waters. He took on the giants of agribusiness. Not with fists but with forks. His weapon was pleasure.
Slow Food became a lobby. A real force. It pushed for biodiversity. For climate-smart farming. For protecting local food cultures. Petrini went to Davos. He lectured at Harvard. But he never lost his grit. He always looked like a man who had just come from a long lunch in a village trattoria.
The legacy is tangible. The Ark of Taste. A catalogue of endangered foods. Over 5,000 products from around the world. A living library of flavours. The Presidia. Support for small producers making cheese, curing meats, growing ancient grains. These are his monuments.
But there is a deeper impact. Petrini changed the conversation. Before him, food was fuel. Now, it is identity. Politics. Culture. He made us think about the hands that grow our food. The soil it comes from. The waste we produce. He made eating a moral act.
Critics called it elitist. A movement for the rich. But Petrini refused that framing. He argued that good food is a right, not a privilege. He fought for food sovereignty. For access. His movement often clashed with the power of the EU and trade deals. He was a thorn for the establishment.
Tributes are pouring in. From President Mattarella to Prince Charles. They all highlight his passion. His humanity. But for those of us who watched the game, he was a master player. He knew that changing how we eat required changing how we see the world. That is a political project.
The movement will continue. The Terra Madre network. The University of Gastronomic Sciences. The new generation of activists. But Petrini was the heart. The old lion. Without him, there is a vacuum. A loss of that gravelly voice, that mischievous smile.
A note to our readers: this is not a goodbye. This is a call to action. Petrini's work is not done. The battle between fast and slow is still being fought. His legacy lives in every farmer's market, every school garden, every meal eaten with thought. That is the story.
Final thought. He once said: "We are what we eat." But more than that, we are how we eat. With whom. And at what cost. Carlo Petrini taught the world that. And for that, we raise a glass of natural wine. Cheers, Carlo. You changed the menu.
