This is a CTP of initiative: Slow Food Italy
One of the first critical turning points mentioned by the interviewee is related to the taste courses that Slow Food Italy launched in 1990 in the north of Italy, aimed to educate people in slow consumption. These courses put in value traditional local gastronomy and connect consumers and local food producers in enjoyable contexts. These educational courses were developed in informal spaces (restaurants, trattorias, cultural spaces) where people were invited to join and taste Italian delicatessen cultivated and cooked following the local tradition. Moreover, tasting and food demonstrations were accompanied with talks and invited lectures given by experts and qualified people who provided information and documentation on a number of the subjects related to gastronomy, health and environmental protection.
At the beginning, we organized five or six gatherings, tasting events. Our goal was not to educate foodies, but to inform everyone, people who were very curious on the topics we approached in Slow Food, public who did not know very much about these issues. We invited scientists and lecturers who talked about food production and the food system practices. Our initial interest was to promote our region´s wine production. Then, we were also interested in coffee. These courses were started by many Slow Food Italy local chapters, almost spontaneously, across the entire Italian territory. Although national headquarters (in Bra) was the pioneer, then they sent the idea to the rest of Italy. First, we did one or two editions and we saw that the idea worked!
The respondent considers the organization of these taste education workshops a critical event in the timeline of Slow Food Italy, but also within the Slow Food International Network. In 1990, Slow Food was not much well known out of certain gastronomic sectors and, concretely in Italy, only inhabitants in the regions closer to Bra and Piedmont, like Venice, had certain relation with Slow Food.
As a consequence of these courses and “tasting” gatherings, the Slow Food Italy was able to spread their message to non-expert people, reaching to the wide citizenship and gaining the acknowledgment of local institutions (like regional and national press, regional authorities).
Besides, what seems to be more important for the interviewee, starting these educative activities was fundamental to initiate a new culture within consumers. Slow Food was able to transform the self-perception that consumers have on their role within the food system, realizing that individual behaviour also can influence and change production systems in local contexts.
This is a critical moment, because it was an absolute novelty in Italy. A project that comprises so many disciplines regarding food issues did not exist until the moment in Italy. We can say that we initiate basically a cultural change, which approached to many people and they started to think about the conditions of food production. We initiate a process of change in which consumers turned out on "co-producers". Thanks to these courses, consumers have more information available to make a decision about what to purchase. Now, when Slow Food talks about consumers, we prefer to say that we are co-producers. We truly believe that, with our decisions and consumption choices, we are able to influence in what is produced
Slow Food Italy starts in Italy 1986 under the denomination of “Arcigola”, the gastronomic branch of the Italian left-wing cultural “Arci” association with enormous influence and intense activity until nowadays. However, the ambition of the leaders of Arcigola –a reduced group of food activists leaded by Carlo Petrini- was to expand the initiative to the international context. They promote the constitution in 1989 in Paris, of the Slow Food International Association, inviting chefs, experts and activist from many different countries in the world. In that moment, pioneers decide to change the name of the association even in Italy and Arcigola was substituted by “Slow Food Italy”, with contestation within the associates.
In these days, Arcigola, was a sector of the national association ARCI, Italian Cultural Recreational Association, composed of several sections dedicated to culture and spectacles. Carlo Petrini and a number of friends create Arcigola in 1986. They intended to give greater relevance to gastronomy, especially regional food and wine.when we became an international association, there was discussion about if was better to keep the name Arcigola, or using Slow Food, SF. Actually, in Italy we called slowfood-Arcigola for several years. SF in Italy was an association with presence mainly in the North, in Piedmont and Veneto. Our territorial organizations were called "condota" in Italian, formed in those days by groups of friends and people who had passion for food. In my case, this is the initial reason for participating in the local chapter of Treviso. I was passionate about wine and participated in a wine tasting activity. Finally, I became the leader of the chapter
However, in those days the initiative had only the acknowledgement of certain gastronomic sectors, expert people and passionate associates interested on the defense of traditional food and wine. According to Slow Food Italy, as a result of the prolonged economic boom that followed the Second World War, the vast culinary heritage of many Italian rural areas, taken for granted for so long, was in jeopardy. Concerning leadership, Carlo Petrini was the most relevant person within the Slow Food movement in that period, able to reach to the wide public and persuade them to join the Slow Food movement. But, also, a number of leaders of the local chapters realized that the initiative should be open to the people and inform them about the issues that Slow Food Italy was able to identify in their regional and national context:
The fundamental role of Carlo Petrini can be observed in each of the important moments of the trajectory of Slow Food Italy. Behind him, there was a group, within the national association, that realized, in the 90s, that many of the traditional Italian products were disappearing. These people later constitute the slow food education working group. We started the Ark of Taste project, which continued until now. But we also realized that listing those traditional products and foods was not enough. We didn´t want to make a museum, because a museum is a dead thing! So, we the Presidia project, in order to safeguard and promote local rural economies which are related to traditional high quality production systems that we support in Slow Food. But what is quality? A quality product involves good, clean and fair production, and people should learn about that
The mentioned critical turning point refers to the primary courses that Slow Food Italy launched in Italy. Immediately, this idea was reproduced in many places in Europe and other countries worldwide. The aim was to put consumers in touch with the producers of the food and wine they enjoyed, recreating the “umbilical cord” that disappeared when supermarkets substituted traditional markets. Following this idea, Slow Food Italy launched in 1996 the first edition of "Salone del Gusto", which became another critical turning point within the timeline of Slow Food Italy and Slow Food International Association.
Second, the educational path started with the taste courses has been strengthened by Slow Food Italy over time with a more formal sensory education program for adults named “The Master of Food”, launched in 2001:
We started a project called "Master of Food", which is focused on taste education, and that is taught in many regions of Italy. We teach how to cook, who to buy in the market, who to eat products such as cheese, coffee, wine. These courses are open to everyone. Despite the name, in our Master of Food, we attempt to educate people in food, healthy eating, etc. However, we don´t confer a professional accreditation, just a certificate of attendance
The movement decided to extend their educational activity to younger students, starting the School Gardens project in Italy, USA and other places, concretely, since the decision adopted in the Fourth Slow Food International Congress (hosted in Naples in 2003) to enhance that every Slow Food convivia launch their own School Garden project.
Going further in this strategy to educate people in sustainable consumption and gastronomy, Slow Food founded in 2004 the private non-profit University of Gastronomic Sciences, in collaboration with the regional public administrations of Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna. Slow Food leaders were aware that formal education courses and trainings that traditional agriculture universities teach in Italy were not enough for those who were interested in sustainable agriculture production practices or were searching educational courses on “ecogastronomy”.
Later we founded the University of Gastronomic Sciences. The University exists due to an intuition of Carlo Petrini that he saw clearly that Slow Food should inform and educate people at university. Finally, the created a private Italian university, regulated by law, that provides a degree to the students. Food professionals are formed here
Slow Food members also considered that new learning methods and interdisciplinary approaches were needed. Slow Food created in Italy this university “as an international research and education center for those working on renewing farming methods, protecting biodiversity, and building an organic relationship between gastronomy and agricultural science. Students gain knowledge in sciences and humanities, sensory training, and hands-on learning” (source: UGS Website).
There was not any contestation or opposition regarding the celebration of these taste education courses (“taste workshops”). On the contrary, these courses were so popular that were successfully reproduced in all parts of Italy, organized by local chapters. Since the first editions, the taste courses were improved and include information not only concerning food and cooking, but also environmental and sustainable agriculture. This requires more experts who can teach and show the innovations and new knowledge regarding the sustainability of the food system.
Besides, the relationship between the local chapters and the national association of Slow Food Italy with the University of Gastronomic Science seems to be essential. The University facilitates the access to scientific knowledge. According to the respondent:
The creation of the University of Gastronomic Science provided more support to the initiative, in terms of access to knowledge and expert people – teachers, researchers- that we can invite to give a lecture or asking for scientific data on organic production, healthy consumption, etc. However, I think that this relationship between University and Slow Food Italy could be better, being closer each other, doing things together more frequently
The Critical Turning Point was not foreseen as a critical event when pioneers started the project. According to the perception of the interviewee, “Slow Food members were not very conscious of what they were doing, because they were improvising”, trying and doing by practice. Thus, there was not a specific (educative) project and practitioners were not trained about how to organize them. Hence, some practitioners explain the success of the “taste workshops”, as something perfectly logic, comprehensive; not only in the beginning but nowadays (practitioners currently continue organizing these tasting activities in each local chapter).
This critical turning point relates with people’s curiosity about the characteristics of the food they purchase and consume. When Slow Food Italy started their courses on traditional cheese, regional wine, and local products, the network became very popular within Italian population. Certain sector of the population was interested in recovering past traditions and relations between producers and consumers. Before supermarkets became popular, people were able to ask directly to the producer and trusted him or her. Everybody purchased in local small shops, which used to be places for knowledge sharing. Customers could ask and be informed by the people who were in touch with the supplier. With modernization, all these traditional face-to-face relations disappeared, due to the emergence of supermarkets and -currently- online shopping. But, according to Slow Food activists, people still care about food and love eating quality food and meet face-to-face with producers.
Following this, the leaders of the national branch were aware that the educational system did not provided the appropriate education to new chefs or professionals in the food area, in order to be able to change the food system through, for example, implementing sustainable practices in gastronomy and agriculture. The first succeed experience on educational courses were the kick off the Slow Food University which, despite its small dimension, is also considered an important project to the network.
Learning outcomes from this critical turning point are related with several topics. First, Slow Food leaders learned strategies about how to reach the wide people and how to introduce global issues and topics to the general public. They do it in informal contexts, where knowledge interchange occurs while people have fun, taste good products and meet face-to-face with food producers and experts. Slow Food Italy also designs and performs more formal courses -that are oriented to provide specific knowledge on several topics, and certificate the attendance to the courses, although not being professional certificates.
These courses are open to everyone. In our “Master of Food”, we provide knowledge about food, healthy eating, etc. we do not provide a professional recognition, only a certificate of attendance, but people love it
The Italian initiative has also built a coherent and comprehensive framework of knowledge that gathers insights and input from several disciplines related to the food system – organic agriculture, eco-gastronomy, green economy, environmental sciences, etc. They have produced a new framework for understanding the food system, formulating innovative proposals and challenging solutions to face environmental issues. This new frame is also disseminated to the public, encouraging individuals to take responsibility on their own choices regarding food production and consumption practices (at least in the local context):
These courses were pioneers in Italy. Thus, it was a grassroots cultural initiative capable to reach many people. And we shifted food production conditions. It meant a process of change in which consumers began to be co-producers. Consumers have more information to make their decisions, to choose what they want buy. We prefer to say that we are co-producers, because we think that, with our consumption choices, we can influence what will be produced in the future
Besides, practitioners and public needed to “de-learn” attitudes and cultural prejudices regarding pleasure and hedonism. Italy is a Catholic country, where religion and Christian culture was very present in the 80s, when Slow Food was born (and still now). So, when Slow Food claimed the right to pleasure, and connect pleasure to food and conviviality, they tried to initiate a cultural revolution liked to gastronomy, which transmits to the wide people through the taste workshops.
My job was related to the sector of rail transportation. I was not working in the field of gastronomy but I was a curious person, culturally interested in gastronomy. I enjoy the pleasure of food. And this is not a sin! In the manifesto of Paris, Slow Food speaks about the right to pleasure as the revolutionary element of gastronomy. Eating is an anthropological act, strongly linked to pleasure. However, enjoying eating was perceived as a sin, something one almost had to apologize. Slow Food discourse has a very strong cultural element, claiming the right to the pleasure
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