Carlo Petrini, President of Slow Food, Visits India

Carlo Petrini, President and founder of Slow Food, will travel in India with Vandana Shiva, the founder of Navdanya, who in November was elected Vice President of Slow Food.

Slow Food is an international association with offices (in order of creation) in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, the USA, France, Japan and the United Kingdom, and supporters in 130 countries. Slow Food believes in recognizing the importance of pleasure connected to food and combines a respect and interest in gastronomic culture with those fighting to defend food and agricultural biodiverity around the world.

Navdanya was founded by world-renowned scientist and environmentalist Dr. Vandana Shiva. The main aim is to support local farmers, rescue and conserve crops and plants that are being pushed to extinction and make them available through direct marketing. Navdanya is actively involved in the rejuvenation of indigenous knowledge and culture.

Mr. Petrini’s first stop will be Trivandrum, Kerala, where he will help launch the Good Food Movement on February 18 at the VJT Hall at 2.30 pm. This group, like Slow Food, is working to preserve traditional foods, communities and environments in India which are disappearing.

While rich in its food traditions, India is no stranger to the culture of fast food. The effect of this changing diet can already be seen in the growing rates of obesity, increase in type II diabetes and dental decay. Through his visit, Carlo Petrini hopes that Slow Food, which has 86,000 members worldwide, will strengthen links between farmers and consumers, helping educate people, in India as well, about taste.
The President of Kerala and the Minister of Agriculture will attend the meeting.

February 19 Mr. Petrini will travel to Mumbai to visit the Premier Catering College where he will meet with students and former students who are now chefs (see invitation at the bottom).

Mr. Petrini will visit the Slow Food Dehradun Basmati Rice Presidium on February 22. There are 300 Presidia around the world in 42 countries working to preserve traditional forms of production and traditional foods. In Dehradun the presidia rice is grown from heirloom varieties without the use of pesticides, which were damaging the environment.

There are now two Slow Food chapters, called Convivium, in India, one in New Delhi and one in Noida.

Invitation:

Western India Culinary Association, IHMCTAN & Navdanya Present
“Savour the Flavour”