Gastronomy loses Carlo Petrini

Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Foodmovement, died last week at the age of 76 in Piedmont, Italy. It’s an important death for the world of gastronomy, given the Italian’s influence on the way we think about food, terroirs and the role of producers. In the late 1980s, as food standardization accelerated, Petrini imagined Slow Food as a cultural as well as gastronomic response. Defending “good, clean and fair” food, putting taste, the seasons and know-how back at the center: ideas that seemed almost marginal at the time, but which resonate around the world today. But beyond his activism, Carlo Petrini above all embodied a certain idea of the table. A deeply human gastronomy, linked to the land, conviviality and memory. A vision that continues to influence chefs, artisans and producers far beyond Italy’s borders.