Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement, wants us to know where our food comes from, pay a fair price for it, and above all, enjoy it in good company, writes Michael Kelly
CARLO PETRINI HAS a pithy phrase which he uses to describe the lack of a hierarchy in the Slow Food organisation, which he founded - austere anarchy. It's a phrase that neatly sums up his approach to the subject of eco-gastronomy (another phrase he coined himself).
The 59-year-old Italian journalist established Slow Food in 1989 in opposition to the fast-food culture and more specifically, in reaction to the prospect of a McDonald's opening up near the Spanish Steps in Rome. What started with an emphasis on taking time to cook and enjoy the conviviality of meal times, has grown into an organisation that promotes local food economies, helps small farmers and food producers, and strives to preserve endangered food and processes.
The organisation now has more than 86,000 members in 144 countries, organised into local groups, called condotte in Italy and convivia elsewhere. The convivia organise courses and tastings, promote Slow Food ideals, and link consumers with local producers. Presently, there are 14 convivia in Ireland.
Over the 20 years since he established Slow Food, Petrini has refined his message to a mantra of "Good, Clean and Fair" - that is, food that tastes good, is produced in ways that doesn't harm the planet, and pays the producer a good wage. Of the environmental imperative at the core of Slow Food, he says: "A gastronome who isn't an environmentalist is very stupid. But an environmentalist who isn't a gastronome is extremely sad".
While the Slow Food movement is undoubtedly tackling serious issues - the pervasiveness of fast, cheap, unhealthy and processed food; the lack of sustainability in how we produce food; the destruction of small farming and local economies; and the giant multinationals who control every aspect of our food chain - Petrini does not allow the organisation he founded to take itself too seriously. Why should it, he argues, when its core message is about pleasure - the enjoyment of good food in jovial company? Little wonder that Alain Ducasse dubbed Petrini the "Don Juan of the food world".
This is one of a string of ironies that makes Petrini such a compelling figure. Slow Food is not a political organisation and yet it has growing political power. He promotes a return to tradition and yet is thoroughly modern in his outlook. He wants to change our agricultural system and replace it with local economies - but he is not against globalisation (if it is "virtuous"), commerce or industry.
Not that he's afraid of ramming home some home-truths when needed, and they are all the more forceful because of his laid-back style. When the typical objections to Slow Food are put to him, Petrini becomes more animated.
In his latest book, Slow Food Nation, he places an emphasis on the importance of spending time breaking bread with friends and family. I ask him whether this is a realistic goal for a modern family, given the frenetic pace of life now.
"On this point we really need to wage a war of resistance," he says. "Sharing food with family and friends in conviviality is a great ethical heritage that we have, especially you Irish and us Italians. If this heritage is not shared, this is a complete disaster. This is a fundamental part of our civilisation and also very important for our health and psychological wellbeing."
He is equally emphatic when it comes to discussing the price of organic food and the accusation that Slow Food is elitist. "I have to make an observation on the cost of food: In 1970, in Europe, an average family spent 32 per cent of their disposable income on food. Now, in Italy and in Ireland, an average family spends about 15 per cent of their disposable income on food and 12 per cent on mobile phones. Perhaps we should make a couple less phone calls and concentrate more on food quality."
The only way, he says, for organic food to become pervasive, is for us to increase demand. "In Italy, Germany and England, we are launching a campaign so that hospitals, canteens, universities and schools will buy from local producers. If we are able to increase demand, costs will come down and organic farming will be more commercial for farmers."
As consumers, we have a part to play, in fact Petrini prefers the term "co-producers" rather than consumers. "Co-producers are consumers who are fully aware and sensitive to what's involved with regard to food-production. They do not always look for the lowest price goods, but goods at the right price."
Slow Food has taken a uniquely holistic approach to finding solutions, bringing together all the stakeholders, including producers, consumers, chefs, industry and academia. Petrini established a University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo to encourage academic study in the area. In Turin, he set up Terra Madre, a meeting of up to 5,000 food-producers from all over the world. These meetings are now spreading worldwide.
In keeping with his infectious joie de vivre, Petrini refuses to be pessimistic about the state of our food-chain. He points to the US, where Slow Food has 40,000 members. "Even in that country, which invented fast food, malls and the supermarket, there is a sea-change happening."
• Ireland's first Terra Madre event takes place in Waterford next weekend. (See Right Here Right Now, in this section for programme highlights).
• www.slowfoodireland.com.
• Thanks to translator Ronan O'Dowd.