A bit of HIstory...

The Italian association was founded in 1986 and its birth was celebrated in Barolo in the Langhe district in the province of Cuneo. The international movement was founded in Paris in 1989. The definition contained in its Manifesto conveys a very clear message: a movement for the protection of the right to taste. If Slow Food has grown into a large-scale international movement, with over 60,000 members in all five continents (of whom about half in Italy), it is precisely because the concept of ‘pleasure’ is a complex one encompassing many meanings and involving many aspects of our existence.

Slow Food's main offices, situated in Bra (Cuneo), a small town in southern Piedmont, employ about 100 people. They are the hub of a close-knit network of local grassroots offices in Italy and abroad, the so-called convivia, which promote the movement by staging events, debates and other initiatives. Thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of their managers, collaborators and members, they provide continuous feedback to the central offices in Bra.

If we wish to enjoy the pleasure which this world can give us, we have to give of our all to strike the right balance of respect and exchange with nature and the environment. This is why we like to define ourselves as ‘eco-gastronomes.’ The fact is that our pleasure cannot be disconnected from the pleasure of others, but it is likewise connected to the equilibrium we manage to preserve (and in many cases revive) with the environment we live in. A lot of ground still has to be covered, and much of it will be uphill. But there are many of us and we all have strong legs! We began with the world of wine which has literally changed skin in Italy over the last 15 years. We continued with the complex universe of cheese, creating the two-yearly Cheese, an exhibition of all the world’s very finest dairy produce.

Now we also organize the Salone del Gusto (Hall of Taste), the third edition of which was held in October 2000. These are the major large-scale events we stage to create public awareness. We also devote great energy to what we call Taste Education through taste workshops, tasting courses and the books and magazines we publish. From awareness to wellbeing and back again! The journey is always a new, various and exciting one. Like in the responses wo/man and nature have found together in the course of the centuries to meet a need - that of pleasure - that is much more complex than mere physical survival.