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Rethinking Food

Interview with Carlo Petrini
photo Carlo Petrini at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo [© AlbertoPeroli]

Italian food writer Carlo Petrini's efforts to encourage people to rethink our relationship with food have inspired a global popular movement that is redefining the relationship between what we eat, the people who grow it, the systems that distribute it and the Earth that produces it. A key activity of this Slow Food movement is the Terra Madre (Mother Earth) gatherings that bring together thousands of food producers from around the world to discuss problems and find possible solutions. Petrini has also founded the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo and Colorno, Italy, that offers an interdisciplinary approach to food studies.

SGI Quarterly: How has our attitude to food and eating changed since the time of our grandparents, and what effects has this had?

Carlo Petrini: In recent decades we have witnessed a gradual impoverishment of the senses--our ability to feel, taste and smell. The increasing speed of our lives deprives us of the ability to experience the genuine diversity and authenticity in the world around us. Humankind has lost touch with the land, with time, traditions, knowledge, culture and cuisine. The moments of encounter rooted in the ancient rituals of daily life and the cycle of the seasons are no longer part of our experience. The uniform flavor of industrial foods, which are the same all over the world, has impoverished our ability to recognize food.

SGIQ: What is good quality food, and why should such quality be important?

CP: According to the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment published in 2005, food production and transportation is now the main cause of the pollution and gradual destruction of our planet. This should make us reflect. If it is true, as Wendell Berry says, that eating is also an "agricultural act," then good quality foods that are produced in ways that respect the natural environment and local traditions can encourage biodiversity, equity and sustainability.

If you are concerned about the fate of the planet, the definition of good food goes beyond gourmet considerations; it must be eco-gastronomic, that is, we must be aware of the potential impact of our choices. For eco-gastronomes, quality is defined by three adjectives: good, clean and fair. Good refers to the pleasure derived from the qualities of the food, but also the complex realm of feelings, memories and sense of identity that arise from our emotional associations with food. Clean products are those that do not stress the land, that are produced with respect for the natural environment. Fair means it conforms to the concepts of social justice with regard to its production and marketing.

Beyond Consumption

SGIQ: What are the aims of the Slow Food movement, and what is it in practice?

CP: There is a lot that needs to be done to spread a conscious perception of food. We begin by focusing on taste: promoting school gardens, taste workshops, theater, our Master of Food courses and other initiatives that help retrain and revive the senses, especially among the younger generation.

Food is not only food but also pleasure, culture and conviviality--the mediator of values and attitudes, a vehicle for realization and a catalyst of our emotions. With this awareness we become coproducers, rather than merely consumers. The "consumer" has to feel part of the production process, with an awareness of the influence of their preferences, either supporting degradation or rejecting injustice and unsustainability.

This doesn't mean that we must all go back to living in the countryside or produce our own food, but our connection to Earth--the severed umbilical cord--can be restored through a search for information, through producers communicating their processes, through large retailers rethinking their systems and supporting local production. It can be restored by our desire to return to being coproducers, by creating new "food communities" in which the gastronome is simply the final link in a whole functional chain.

SGIQ: Choosing conscientiously produced food might simply be considered a luxury that many can't afford. What is the movement's relevance in developing countries?

CP: In Italy after World War II until the early '70s, most of the family budget was allocated to food purchases. In Europe today statistics show much lower figures of between 16 and 17 percent. The importance of food has declined in relation to other products. In the global South and developing countries the figures are much higher, but entire nations are losing their food sovereignty, the direct relationship between production and consumption at the local level.

Our Terra Madre network brings together farmers and fishermen, artisans and agri-food producers, chefs and academics. This is the positive face of globalization. It gives a voice to those who do not approve of inhumane models of production and of attaching market values to the living world. It is precisely from the global South--from those at daily risk of being crushed by overwhelming market dynamics--that the cry for solidarity arises.

SGIQ: How do you see the future relationship between local food producers and the international trade networks?

CP: Terra Madre was born out of the need to embrace a new concept of the economy, beginning with agriculture, which is at the center of local communities, to the food of the local community, its culture and the local region. We're seeing now the enormous limitations of the market economy.

The Terra Madre food communities establish a "short chain," or at least a chain based on mutual understanding between those involved. A simple example is the farmers' markets that are found globally. We are not talking about closed economies, or about not being able to enjoy products and dishes we love. The term "local" should be understood as an economic system that is well integrated with the region; not a forced expression of the law of supply and demand but a recognition of the historical heritage of a community. The dignity of the local economy is the only thing that will allow us to realize what is becoming an oxymoron: sustainable development.

Preserving Knowledge

SGIQ: In our rapidly changing world, what do you see as the value of traditional knowledge and wisdom?

CP: Food is tied up with the traditional culture of peasant communities, not only in the culinary sense, but also with its crafts, poetry, music and local history. The disappearance of traditional knowledge, already experienced in communities in the West, is now occurring in the rural societies of the poorest countries. Dignity and value have been discarded in the name of scientific progress to make room for a "modernity" that knows only about the culture of the market. This is why at Terra Madre in Turin we started a "dialogue between different fields of knowledge," bringing representatives of the scientific and academic world into dialogue with representatives of food communities.

In addition, in the 2008 meeting of the food communities, we launched a new initiative, Sounds of Terra Madre, in which 49 nonprofessional music groups from 30 countries shared the culture of their traditional feasts and celebrations. We plan to do a similar thing in coming years with languages that are at risk of dying out.

SGIQ: Why do you believe the Slow Food movement has grown so quickly?

CP: Humanity has almost reached a point of no return. Our way of life, the speed with which we "consume" each moment of our existence, is beginning to pose serious questions. Many feel the need to reappropriate their time, to go deeper, to recover their roots. In developing countries, there is a need to preserve culture, cultivation techniques and recipes.

In helping to build the Terra Madre network, what has impressed me most has been the incredible humanity expressed by these farmers, fishermen, gatherers of wild fruit and artisans from around the world. Their stories, their daily struggles, are the true expression of the farming community and a sign of hope. It is a heritage that the world cannot afford to lose.

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