Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, And Fair [Hardcover]

Carlo Petrini (Author), Alice Waters (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2007

By now most of us are aware of the threats looming in the food world. The best-selling Fast Food Nation and other recent books have alerted us to such dangers as genetically modified organisms, food-borne diseases, and industrial farming. Now it is time for answers, and Slow Food Nation steps up to the challenge. Here the charismatic leader of the Slow Food movement, Carlo Petrini, outlines many different routes by which we may take back control of our food. The three central principles of the Slow Food plan are these: food must be sustainably produced in ways that are sensitive to the environment, those who produce the food must be fairly treated, and the food must be healthful and delicious. In his travels around the world as ambassador for Slow Food, Petrini has witnessed firsthand the many ways that native peoples are feeding themselves without making use of the harmful methods of the industrial complex. He relates the wisdom to be gleaned from local cultures in such varied places as Mongolia, Chiapas, Sri Lanka, and Puglia. Amidst our crisis, it is critical that Americans look for insight from other cultures around the world and begin to build a new and better way of eating in our communities here.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Carlo Petrini's manifesto makes switching from grabbing dinner from a drive-thru to seeking out environmentally friendly foods seem not just worth the effort, but necessary." -- Atlantan

"We'd love to do a book review of Carlo Petrini's new book - could you send a review copy? "We'd love to do a book review of Carlo Petrini's new book - could you send a review copy? -- TK: The Kitchen

...author Carlo Petrini addresses the complex and interconnected issues of global food production and consumption. Is it really best to eat organic or to eat local? Does the way we grow wheat or meat adversely affect our environment and, eventually, our health?... Petrini lays out a plan for a change in global food systems based on three principles: Producing food that is good, clean and fair. -- The Daily Review, Hayward, Ca. Tri Valley Herald, Pleasanton, CA. Alameda Times - STAR, Oakland, Ca. San Mateo County Times, San Mateo, CA. Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, CA. West County Times, Richmond, Ca. by Jenny Slafkosky

About the Author

Carlo Petrini is the founder and driving force of Slow Food and was recently acclaimed as a great innovator in Time magazine's list of "European Heroes."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli Ex Libris (May 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847829456
• ISBN-13: 978-0847829453
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > History
  • #13 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Sustainable Agriculture
  • #60 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Food Science

More About the Author

Carlo Petrini is the founder of the international Slow Food movement, which was established in 1986 and now has more than 70,000 members in 45 countries around the world. Slow Food is committed to celebrating and preserving biological and regional diversity in food, and to promoting taste education, as well as supporting local agriculture and economies in our increasingly homogenous world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slow Food: Rich in Character, Intelligence, and Hope, September 27, 2007

By 

Michael Tiemann (Chapel Hill, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, And Fair (Hardcover)

Carlo Petrini gave a lecture at NCSU in Raleigh earlier this year. His talk was in Italian, but his ideas were universal: if we want happiness and peace, we're going to have to change the way we eat.

The book is fantastic. It is beautifully written, powerful, and balances scientific data and understanding with cultural histories and sensible aestheics. His proposal of a new branch of science, gastronomy, is as revolutionary as Freud's proposal to study the human psyche or David Kelley's efforts to study design as a science.

This book is The Inconvenient Truth for those who eat. But it is also a far more optimistic book, for the solution to the problem of industrial agriculture is to seek out good food, to meet and learn about the farms and farmers who grow it, and the reward is pleasure.

The Introduction by Alice Waters is, like the food at Chez Panisse, a sensual as well as a sensible delight.

This is a great book to buy, read, and then share with others, all around the world.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvellous introduction to the Slow Food movement, December 7, 2007

By 

Marya Dumont (Expat in Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, And Fair (Hardcover)

More than a reaction to Fast Food's arrival in Italy, Slow Food
has evolved into a global movement encompassing many different actions to improve what we all taste and eat.
It's not about eating well in the privileged, Michelin-starred table sense. It's about recognizing everyone's barriers to eating well and judging the quality of our food on three levels, asking whether it is good, clean and fair. (The book's original title is just that: Buono, pulito e Giusto).
The movement's founder wrote this book to set out a new definition of gastronomy, enumerating some of the issues facing our food supply and helping to turn a thinking eater to positive action.
Beautifully translated, Slow Food Nation is a cogent & readable introduction to what Slow Food is about. Highly recommended!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slow Food's Petrini continues to evolve, December 28, 2007

By 

Craig C. Johnson (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, And Fair (Hardcover)

Carlo Petrini has been attempting to preserve a more traditional view of food for a long time, this book lays out his current thinking in a clear and concise layering of understanding food in culture (gastronomy), understanding quality (good, clean, fair food), and the tools to put these ideas to work in the world going forward.
As we reconstitute a food culture based on transparency and quality in the USA and hopefully across the globe, this book provides key ideas related to respect for diversity of food products, respect for food in culture, and respect for the work associated with food that can serve to guide us. This book made me think and laugh, and I recommend it highly.