Posts Tagged ‘Carlo Petrini’

Jun25

Eating Planet: Carlo Petrini Discusses Buying Food and Paying for Your Values

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By Marlena White

On Thursday, June 28, the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet project and the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition will release Eating Planet–Nutrition Today: A Challenge for Mankind and for the Planet in New York City. Today, Nourishing the Planet highlights a contributing author of Eating Planet, and shares his views on how to fix the broken food system. The event is full but please tune in on the 28th via livestream: we will be taking questions in real time from the audience, from the livestream, and from Twitter and Facebook.

In Eating Planet, Carlo Petrini discusses paying for food in terms of values. (Photo credit: Bruno Cordioli)

In a chapter introduction for Eating Planet – Nutrition Today: A Challenge for Mankind and for the Planet—the newly released book from the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition—International Slow Food Movement founder Carlo Petrini discusses what paying a fair price means, and why it’s important for the sustainability of the world’s food supplies.

Petrini begins by explaining that sustainability means the plans we make, both in terms of individual and higher-level actions, must be able to last over the long term and on many different levels, taking into account social, economic, and environmental factors. With its many impacts on these factors, he says, food is crucial to sustainability as a whole.

According to Petrini, what we eat, including the time and money we put into it, is an investment in both our health and the state of the environment. He says it also reflects a certain set of values that can have strong implications for sustainability. These values may be the bottom line of overall profits, or longer term considerations like protecting the health of ecosystems and the livelihoods of our food producers. Petrini argues that the values inherent in our food should be included in their price, especially after accounting for what these values contribute to the sustainability of the planet.

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Posted by Nourishing the Planet in Agriculture, Culture, Economy, Environment, Farmers, Food, Health, Investment, Labor, Markets, Nutrition, Sustainable

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Jun14

Carlo Petrini: “Good, Clean and Fair Food” for Sustainable Development

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By Katie Spoden

Carlo Petrini, the founder and president of the Slow Food Movement, is invited to speak at the Sustainable Development Dialogue on Food and Nutrition Security at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+20.

Carlo Petrini (Photo credit: Slow Food Perth)

The dialogue is one of ten dialogues that will take place during the conference. The goal of the sustainable development dialogues is to bring together representatives from NGOs, the private sector, the scientific community, and other relevant groups – no UN representatives or Governments will be represented – to debate and compile tangible recommendations to present to the Heads of State and Governments present in Rio.

Carlo Petrini founded Slow Food in 1986 in protest to a McDonald’s opening in Piazza di Spagna in Rome. Born in Italy, Petrini began the Slow Food movement with the hope of bringing cultural and quality food back to its Italian roots. Slow Food’s philosophy is to provide “good, clean, and fair food for all.” Currently, the international grassroots organization has over 100,000 members in 150 countries. In 2004, the Terra Madre network was launched by Slow Food. Terra Madre is a program that connects small-scale farmers with consumers around the world to discuss solutions to improve the food system and food and nutrition security.

About the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, Petrini says, “The 1992 UN Conference in Rio de Janeiro was a truly historical moment, finally bringing sustainable development to the attention of the whole world. Twenty years have passed, and we have not yet made enough progress to meet the challenges that had been set out. My hope is that Rio+20 will send out a strong message of unity, where we acknowledge our responsibilities as citizens of the world and where we commit ours earth and the global community as a whole.”

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Posted by Nourishing the Planet in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Breeding, Conservation, Culture, Food, Indigenous, Nutrition, Policy, Poverty, Seeds

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May10

Slow Food President to Address the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

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By Alison Blackmore

On May 14, Slow Food President Carlo Petrini will be speaking on the right to food and food sovereignty at the 11th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII). His invitation to speak is the first time an external guest has been asked to address the Forum.

Carlo Petrini speaking at the Terra Madre conference in Turin, Italy. (Photo credit: Bernard Pollack)

The UNPFII represents global issues pertinent to Indigenous Peoples. This year, at its annual two-week session, the Forum will focus on the “Doctrine of Discovery,” where Indigenous, governmental, and UN representatives will discuss the impact foreign conquests have had on Indigenous Peoples, and how to rectify these grievances.

At the Forum, Petrini will speak on the power Indigenous Peoples hold to deal with many of our most dire societal ills – from environmental crises to global health problems. For many years, Petrini and Slow Food have been working with Indigenous communities, learning from their agricultural approaches, supporting farming initiatives, and fostering connections between farmers. Petrini argues that returning to many traditional agricultural practices that work in harmony with the earth is one of the best ways to establish a food system that guarantees access to nutritional food without sacrificing the long term health of our environment.

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Posted by Nourishing the Planet in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Breeding, Conflict, Conservation, Culture, Development, Events, Food, Food Sovereignty, Indigenous, Land, Sustainable

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Apr22

Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition and Worldwatch Celebrate Earth Day with the Release of “Eating Planet”

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By Leah Baines

Across the globe, the food system is broken. Worldwide, 30 percent of food is wasted, 1 billion people go to bed hungry each night, while another 1 billion suffer from health problems related to obesity and agriculture contributes roughly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Meanwhile, people are increasingly disconnected from how their food reaches their plate, making solutions to the global agricultural system seem even more difficult to attain.

The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition, in collaboration with Nourishing the Planet, is releasing its book, Eating Planet, today. (Image credit: Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition).

The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (BCFN) is collaborating with the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet project to release their report, Eating Planet, today, April 22, (Earth Day). Eating Planet will highlight the challenges facing the food and agricultural system, as well as the numerous benefits that reform could bring.

The book incorporates findings from the report with contributions from many renowned experts and activists worldwide. “The study’s conclusions represent a major step toward ensuring that agriculture contributes to health, environmental sustainability, income generation, and food security,” said Nourishing the Planet project director Danielle Nierenberg. “The ingredients will vary by country and region, but there are some key components that will lead to healthier food systems everywhere.”

The report is divided into four sections: Food for All, Food for Sustainable Growth, Food for Health, and Food for Culture. Each section describes the challenges we face in providing safe, healthy, and environmentally sustainable food and offers concrete recommendations, proposals, and actions to help solve the global food crisis. The book also draws upon experts’ specific suggestions for food and agricultural reform, including healthy eating and lifestyles, fair food prices, and transparent and responsible food trade.

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Posted by Nourishing the Planet in Nourishing the Planet

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