World Ark Magazine - March/April 2009 - (Page 35) H carlo petrini the slow food founder reminds us that quality food is a right, not a privilege. the golden arches hold no appeal for this champion of locally grown, home-cooked meals shared leisurely among family and friends. this Heifer Hero teaches us that we honor ourselves and each other by revering the meals we share. By Ragan Sutterfield c arlo petrini is a brawling gastronome with a refined palate and fierce dedication to food that is “good, clean and fair.” The founder of Slow food international, petrini began his career as a journalist and food critic, a role he has continued with weekly articles in the italian and international presses. he has also written several books including Slow Food Nation. petrini’s life as an activist began when he worked to stop a mcdonald’s from being built on the historic piazza di Spagna near the Spanish Steps in rome. The movement against mcdonald’s led him to found Slow food, an organization that fights all of the detrimental aspects of fast food, in his hometown of Bra, italy. Three years after its founding in 1986, Slow food became an international organization when advocates from around the world met in paris to release a Slow food manifesto. “we are enslaved by speed,” the manifesto reads, “and have all succumbed to the same insidious virus: fast life.… in the name of productivity, fast life has changed our way of being and threatens our environment and our landscapes. “our defense,” the manifesto says, “should begin at the table with Slow food. let us rediscover the flavors and savors of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects of fast food.” That defense of flavor and pleasure colors all of petrini’s work. with a knack for politics and an intense rhetorical flair, he has become a spokesman for people who are uneasy with the cultural and environmental damage that comes from the industrialized food system. petrini offers a vision of food grown on economically viable small farms, prepared according to local traditions and enjoyed by friends and family around a table. it is a vision that resonates with people who are tired of eating homogenized food prepared and eaten with little care or conviviality and grown in ways detrimental to the environment. Since 1989, the lists of Slow food members and petrini’s friends have grown to more than 80,000 people in more than 50 countries, including the prince of wales and mikhail gorbachev. w w w. h e i f e r. o r g Slow food’s influence continues to grow, with a University of gastronomic Sciences in petrini’s hometown, a biennial gathering of farmers and chefs called Terra madre (‘mother earth’ in italian), and a world food fair in Turin that showcases local food traditions. as Slow food grows, Carlo Petrini petrini faces challenges. critics have often labeled Slow food as an elitist movement and rich person’s cause, accusations that petrini works hard to overcome. he famously lambasted farmers’ markets in San francisco for catering to the very wealthy with overpriced food. as petrini said at the Terra madre gathering last fall, “no one should make quality food a luxury: quality should be a right for everybody.” at age 59, petrini continues to work hard to extend that right of quality to everyone. he invites us all to enjoy the simple pleasures of a good meal, grown cleanly, sold fairly and shared with friends. H pamela K. anderson some people know what they want to do at a young age. that was the case for Dr. Pamela K. anderson, who bristled at the unfairness of the world. after earning degrees in ecology and entomology, she set out to ensure a safe, healthy food supply for the world. this director general of the international Potato Center believes the easy-togrow root vegetable can help end hunger and poverty. By Jaman Matthews and Austin Gelder “ ery young, i decided i wanted to dedicate my life to dealing with the social injustices of the world,” says dr. pamela k. anderson, director general of the international potato center in lima, peru. She’s doing just that at the center, where she accepted her current role in march 2005. her mission is the same as the center’s—to reduce poverty and achieve food security by researching and promoting potatoes and other root and tuber crops. anderson, an ecologist and entomologist originally from wisconsin, used her undergraduate years at Northwestern University to explore ways to tackle social injustice. march/apri l 2009 | worl d ark v PHoto By GIuSEPPE arESu/laNDov. 35 http://www.heifer.org
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