Industry spotlight - Interview

Art Culinaire, Wntr, 2002

Q: What makes you so passionate about food and culture?

A: Bra is in the southern part of the Cuneo province of Piedmont, a region where food and wine are very important. We have lots of typical products and the traditional cooking is still very strong. I've always related to food and wine because I was born in this special place.

Q: What is your educational background?

A: I studied Sociology at Trento University, but I never graduated. I started writing as a food and wine critic for a few Italian magazines and newspapers including L 'Espresso, La Stampa, and Il Manifesto. At the same time I was involved with the ARCI (Associazione Ricreativa e Culturale Italiana), a nonprofit recreational association, as the event organizer. From the ARCI experience I started Arcigola.

Q: Can you explain Arcigola?

A: With a few friends I started to think about an association based on the concept of pleasure and taste, and on the importance of good food and wine in life. We were very passionate on the matter and wanted to join as many people possible to share the pleasure. I traveled a lot and met a lot of people with the same passion. In the beginning, it started to grow as a net of Italian gourmets. The next step was the formation of Arcigola, which in 1989 became Slow Food with a much broader vision. The rest is the history of our development.

Q: Did Gambero Rosso come about at the same time that Slow Food evolved?

A: Gambero Rosso is a publishing house that produces books, guides, magazines, and TV programs and was founded after Slow Food. The name came from a weekly supplement of the newspaper II Manifesto, where Slow Food was a contributor. For a certain period of time, Gambero Rosso and Slow Food shared some activities; in fact we co-published the Guida ai Vini d'Italia [a comprehensive guide to Italian wines]. But Slow Food and Gambero Rosso have no other direct connection at the moment.

Q: Aside from the Slowfood and Slowine publications, Slow Food seems to be reaching out through: newspapers, magazines, the Internet, film...are these "slow" methods of communication?

A: These forms of media are the way to spread the Slow Food philosophy. That's the way we use them: to reach our goals. In an age of globalization, we are global but strictly in our own way. We want to demonstrate that there exist other ways, a "slow way" to promote the diversity and the richness of every single culture in the world. Word of mouth is definitely important, for instance many of the artisanal traditions we want to preserve were handed down in this way. We are aware of that, that's why we want to maintain these traditions

Q: How did you attain such a large, international delegation in such a short period of time?

A: I guess that it is due to the strength of our ideas: simple but joyous. It's hard to refuse attention to the pleasure and defense of our environment, as well as the richness of our gastronomic culture! Isn't it?

Q: Of course hut, isn't pleasure for the privileged?

A: Food pleasure is for everyone. We are not only talking about haute cuisine. Pleasure is a right for everybody and there's pleasure even in a simple and healthy dish. Slow Food now has a wide scope: it still has its traditional roots as an ecogastronomic association, but at the same time is becoming an international movement with important projects in developing countries. To ensure development and food in those places it is important to support local people and their activities. The Slow Food Award is an example of moving in this direction. Last year the winners came from Mauritania, Mexico, and Turkey; they were people who spent all their life defending biodiversity by doing their job. For instance, the beekeeper in Anatolia, Turkey or the lady producing camel milk cheese with the Tuareg peoples of the Sahara desert, and so on. This year I can't tell you more about the candidates because the jurors have to choose the winners. But, I can assure you that there are extraordinary stories of people from Africa to Latin America.