Lifestyle Sports: Latest from Food Politics: RIP Carlo Petrini: a huge loss to the food world and to humanity

By Marion Nestle

May 25 2026

RIP Carlo Petrini: a huge loss to the food world and to humanity

Carlo Petrini and Slow Food acolytes in Turin, 2016.

As a member of Slow Food USA, I received its notice about the death of its founder, Carlo Petrini, at age 76 in Bra, Italy.

A visionary leader and public intellectual with a profound commitment to the common good, human relationships, and the natural world, Carlo Petrini founded Slow Food, the international Terra Madre gathering, and the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo. Through these initiatives, he brought to life a global movement rooted in the values of good, clean, and fair food for all, connecting communities, farmers, food artisans, cooks, activists, and young people across the world.

Much has and will be written about his monumental importance to the Slow Food movement and to the food movement in general. His story about its founding is legendary, triggered as it was by the placement of a McDonald’s at the base of the Spanish Steps in Rome. Slow Food was to be the opposite of Fast Food—a celebration of the deliciousness of traditional, “real” foods consumed around the world. He taught the world to treasure them.

He also established the University of Gastronomy in Bra, an exciting place; I taught there once.

Alas, I do not speak Italian, so I never got to know him well. But I heard him speak many times (particularly enjoyably when translated by Corby Kummer). I thought he was brilliant, and funny. Our meetings were always warm and affectionate.

Here is one memory. At the Slow Food Terra Madre in Turin in 2016, he drove up to me on an electric bike and insisted I get on it immediately. I took the photo right after that. There he was, surrounded by adoring fans. I count myself among them.

This is an irreplaceable loss to the food movement, to humanity, and to me.

Other remembrances

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