It was the 80s when Carlo Petrini started talking about food sustainability, responsible consumption and biodiversity. It was the golden age of consumerism and Petrini was the pioneer of a new way to “think food”, which seemed to be on the verge of utopia at that time and today, after thirty years, it has almost become a cliché: an idea that has been broadly embraced and shared, even abused in some cases. The success of the Expo 2015 theme proves it: it is no coincidence that the Slow Food pavilion is one of the main destinations for visitors. 

After all, Petrini had talked about the need to make a real “paradigm shift” in food policies some time ago, during a long interview for ICS Magzine, where he recalled the damages of the current food system, resulting in “a real disruption in environmental and social terms, of unspeakable proportions.”

“This food system – he explained – is responsible for the loss of soil fertility, more and more impoverished, as well as for the striking growth of water demand, which is most likely destined to create situations of conflict. In the near future it’s going to be water, and not petrol, to start wars”. Petrini’s vision is more topical than ever, and so is the underlying challenge: to overcome the model of hyper-productivism, in the name of common welfare.