The lecture hall of the rectorate hosted, this morning, the ceremony of conferring the Honoris cause research doctorate in “Humanistic Sciences” a Carlo Petrini, president of the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo and founder of Slow Foodinternational organization – officially born on 9 December 1989 – which promotes food biodiversity, respect for the environment and sustainability, together with a food education that enhances the culture and the right to good, clean food and just for everyone.
Petrini has held a lectio doctoralis on the theme “The relationship between man and nature at the center of a new humanism” Giuseppe Giordanoordinary of the history of philosophy. Present, together with the rector Giovanna Spatari, the director of the Department of ancient and modern civilizations Giuseppe Ucciardellothe coordinator of the doctorate in humanities Caterina Malta and the general manager Pietro Nuccio.
“The conferral of the Honoris cause doctorate in humanities to Carlo Petrini – underlined the rector Giovanna Spatari – celebrates a man who has been and is able to admirably project agri -food culture in social action and politics. The founder of Slow Food has landed on an ecological and ecosophical vision which, started from food, captures the latter’s eminently cultural perspective and declines new categories of the relationship with an environment that can no longer be anthropocental precisely for the survival of mankind “.
“Today, the University of Messina welcomes a personality – said Giordano – who has become naturally The defender of the planet before the environmental crisis we are going through, the one who has been able to dialogue with politics on themes that he herself could not face. Slow Food, the movement he founded in 1989, in a short time has reached a great level of internationality by spreading his philosophy and strengthening over time thanks to other projects, ambitious as winning, such as the motherland and the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo which, since 2004, has been the figure of the gastronomist capable of combining interdisciplinary knowledge and skills in the science, policy, economy and food ecology. Petrini learned his time with thought, putting man and nature in total relationship through a new humanism based on the plural vision of a gastronomy linked, in a reticular way, to many other disciplines. Furthermore, as shown in the essay ‘The taste of changing’ writing with four hands with Gaël Giraud, Petrini believes a lot in young people as propulsors of change capable of understanding how gastronomy is happiness and, at the same time, form and peace tool “.
“Being in Sicily, a land of extraordinary beauty and humanity – commented Carlo Petrini – is for me a reason for profound joy. Receiving this recognition from the University of Messina, in the philosophical field, has a special meaning: because philosophy is what questions the profound meaning of things – and Food, today more than ever, needs to be questioned. When we gave birth to Slow Food, on the ground and then at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, we would never have imagined that that vision could grow so much. But what guided us from the beginning was a simple principle: Gastronomy is, by its nature, multidisciplinary. It is not only cuisine or nutrition, but also ecology, agriculture, anthropology, history, economics. It is a knowledge that unites and connects, because everything is connected. Among the fundamental values we have tried to cultivate there is biodiversity, now threatened as never before, and which represents the beating heart of our food identity. Defending it is a moral duty. But that’s not enough. We must also recognize pleasure as a right: the pleasure of eating well, of sharing, of living with dignity. It is a concept that may seem revolutionary, but it is simply human. In this historical phase so complex, I strongly believe in the urgency of an intergenerational dialogue: it is necessary to walk side by side, with mutual respect, also accepting the right to error. Because the future is built together. And if they asked me what the pillars of this long journey were, I would answer: the emotional intelligence, which is the strength of the heart even before reason, and what I call austere anarchy – the freedom responsible for doing, each in its own context, what is right for the common good. I live this doctorate not as a point of arrival, but as a new beginning: a collective invitation to rethink our relationship with food, with the earth and with others. With joy, with consciousness and courage “.
The Piedmontese gastronomist and sociologist has developed a new idea of gastronomy, which looks to food as a result of cultural, historical, economic and environmental processes, giving decisive impulse to the creation of the first university of gastronomic sciences in the world (in 2004). It was also the creator of Earth Madre, the network of over 2,000 food communities, which brings together peasants, breeders, farmhouses, fishermen, young people, cooks, researchers and academics in over 160 countries. To convey his message, Carlo Petrini travels the world keeping alive the relationship with the reality of Slow Food in each state. With his vision aimed at safeguarding and enhancing the productions attentive to the health of the full and the rights of workers, dr. Petrini took part in high -level comparisons with international institutions. Among these, also, the European Union, FAO and other United Nations agencies. In particular, in 2016, he received the position of FAO special ambassador to Europe for “zero hunger” – by President Fao Graziano Da Silva – To raise public awareness of the need to improve agriculture and build sustainable food chains. Petrini and Slow Food’s commitment has materialized in the sphere of social and environmentalism, keeping the two aspects well related to each other because on the health of the planet – therefore of ecosystems and food – it indissolubly depends on the well -being of individuals and, vice versa, on a greater awareness of citizens on the choices of the products depends on the safeguarding of biodiversity. Among the most important projects created by Slow Food there are the vegetable gardens in Africa, the vegetable garden in conduct, the ark of the taste and the Presìdi Slow Food.
For the commitment made in the environmental field and in the Sustainable Development Sector, in 2013 Petrini received the United Nation Program Award for the environment “Samples of the Earth” in the category “Creativity and resourcefulness”. The importance of his work applied to the world through Slow Food projects has aroused the interest of opinion and media internationally, making use of the attribution in 2004 of the title of European hero by the magazine Time Magazine, while, in January 2008, he turned out to be the only Italian, among the “fifty people who could save the world”, a list drawn up by the prestigious Anglo -Saxon newspaper The Guardian.