Carlin Petrini “won’t die”: good, clean and fair food will always be the utopia of the world

The legacy of Carlo Petrini is so vast that it began to be gathered and felt well before the founder of Slow Food, one of the greatest gastronomes and intellectuals of all time, left us. Because “Slow Food” has been, is, and remains the most important grassroots movement in the world. Since it was founded 40 years ago, in 1986, in the rural Langhe of Cesare Pavese and Beppe Fenoglio, and today of Barolo - celebrated by the Chiocciola precisely in 2026 (though in life, as we know, nothing happens by chance - it has fought for the right to good, clean, and fair food, and for the right to its enjoyment for everyone, everywhere on the planet, from children to the communities of Terra Madre. And it will always remain the world true utopia, from Bra to Paris, from Africa to the White House, from Vatican City to the EU, from the UN to China, and in the more than 160 countries where the revolution of Slow Food has spread. This has happened through initiatives such as “School Gardens”, the Presidia, the Ark of Taste, the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, and many other important projects which have forever changed the way we view and consider what we eat. This is true also for WineNews, where Petrini philosophy is a daily source of inspiration to talk about wine and agriculture as a “medium” for telling the world about the values and beauty of our country, through their connections to territories, history, nature, culture, and communities as tools of agroecology and integral ecology. And of our “cultural biodiversity” against the homogenization of thought.
“With Carlo Petrini, one of the greatest thinkers of our time is gone, someone capable of transforming the simple act of eating into a political, cultural, and poetic act says Alessandro Regoli, founder and editor of WineNews - his philosophy of “good, clean, and fair” inspired millions of people worldwide to rediscover the value of time, land, and community. Thanks to Carlo Petrini, “a devout agnostic” in the perfect definition given by Pope Francis, food is no longer just nourishment; it has become awareness, resistance, and conscious slowness. He is a figure who brought me closer to and passionate about this world, starting in 1986, when we met in Montalcino, where I was born and where Slow Food also took its first steps”.
“In the late 1980s - recalls Irene Chiari, founder and communications manager of WineNews - we began working on communication and marketing initiatives dedicated to wine territories and quality gastronomy, among young people who were then fascinated by these new topics, topics which in 2000 would lead to the birth of WineNews online. We understood that we couldn’t talk only about companies. We had to tell the stories of the people in the cellars, the beauty of the landscapes, and launch ideas and projects with those who had already grasped the new philosophy of Slow Food. Petrini was a person powerful in feelings and values, and his consistency is exemplary”.
“About Carlo Petrini, I remember the sense of awe he inspired in me at our first meeting, for WineNews at the Salone del Gusto in Turin in 2010 - explains Federico Pizzinelli - which immediately turned into a source of inspiration and profound reflection on important issues, as it always did whenever I had the privilege of interviewing him, exchanging a few words, or simply listening to him speak. A giant, capable of explaining complex things with simple words, like no one else”. For Emma Lucherini, “being able, thanks to WineNews and in my small way, to contribute to spreading food education, with communication which is respectful of people, territories, production, and diversity, carried out with passion, pleasure, and freedom of thought, both in family life and at work, is what Petrini conveyed to me every time, with joy and warmth. He was the only Italian intellectual on the list of the 50 people who could save the world”, according to the prestigious British newspaper “The Guardian”.
When, years ago, WineNews asked Petrini about the future of Slow Food, his answer was clear: young people. In 2025, together with actor Paolo Tibaldi, the founder of Slow Food wrote “Vite di Langa e Roero”, his last book, aimed at raising awareness among younger generations, who live in this area of Lower Piedmont where it all began about the history and socio-economic transformations which allowed the Langhe to move from the “Fenoglian hardship” to a territory famous worldwide for its food and wine culture.
Without Carlin, the world will no longer be the same: it must become better, starting from the food we bring to the table every day to share with others. Because, as Petrini used to say, “those who plant utopia collect reality”. To his sister Chiara, his friends, and the entire Slow Food community, we extend our deepest condolences and our warmest embrace.

Carlo Petrini may be paid tribute tomorrow, May 23rd, and on May 24th, in the Red Hall of the Agenzia di Pollenzo (from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.). The commemoration will take place on May 24th in the Quadrilatero of the Agenzia (at 11:30 a.m.).