Carlo Petrini, the Italian activist who founded the Slow Food movement in opposition to the rise of fast food and industrial agriculture, has died at the age of 76. His death was confirmed on Monday by the organisation he established in 1986 in the Piedmont region.
Petrini, a former journalist and left-wing activist, launched Slow Food in response to the opening of a McDonald’s restaurant near the Spanish Steps in Rome. The movement, which began as a protest against the homogenisation of global food culture, evolved into a worldwide network of over 100,000 members in 160 countries.
Under Petrini’s leadership, Slow Food promoted local food traditions, biodiversity, and sustainable agriculture. He argued that the industrial food system eroded cultural identity, damaged the environment, and degraded the quality of what people eat. The movement’s flagship projects included the Ark of Taste, a catalogue of endangered foods, and the Terra Madre network, which connected small-scale producers globally.
Petrini was awarded numerous international honours for his work, including the Erasmus Prize in 2012. The Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, which he helped establish, continues to advocate for food sovereignty and against the dominance of multinational agribusiness.
Reactions to his death underscore his influence. Italy’s Minister of Agriculture described him as “a visionary who changed how we think about food.” The Slow Food Movement headquarters in Bra, Italy, confirmed that plans for a public memorial would be announced in due course.
Petrini’s death marks the passing of a central figure in the global debate over food politics. His legacy will be measured not only in the growth of his organisation but in the broader shift toward conscious consumption and a critique of the global food system’s environmental and social costs.
