194 the rice diet renewal
Carlo Petrini, Giampiero and Luisa ’ s mentor and the founder of
Slow Food. We joined the movement and continue to share with
others the joy and importance of maintaining unadulterated foods.
In Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, and
Fair , Carlo summarizes nicely:
I am a gastronome. No, not the glutton with no sense of
restraint whose enjoyment of food is greater the more plenti-
ful and forbidden it is. No, not the fool who is given to the
pleasures of the table and indifferent to how the food got
there. I like to know the history of a food and of the place that
it comes from; I like to imagine the hands of the people who
grew it, transported it, processed it, and cooked it before it
was served to me. I do not want the food I consume to deprive
others in the world of food. I like traditional farmers, the rela-
tionship they have with the earth, and the way they appreciate
what is good. The good belongs to everyone; pleasure belongs
to everyone, for it is in human nature.In 1999, Carlo and others also founded Citta Slow, or Slow
Town, with the cities of Bra, Orvieto, Positano, and Greve in Chianti
as the founding members. Slow Town is an international associa-
tion that wants to preserve the quality of life through the protection
of agricultural production, the environment, and the countryside.
The commitment to being a Slow Town includes allowing no fast -
food restaurants within the city limits and supporting local farmers
by having farmer ’ s markets readily available. In November, at the
peak of the harvesting season for olive oil, truffl es, porcini mush-
rooms, and new wine, we have conducted tours of the Tuscan and
Umbrian regions for Ricers, with base camp at Locanda Rosati.
(For information about our next trip, go to http://www.ricediet.com .) Due
to the fact that we rent the entire farm for nine days and have a
special relationship with Paolo, their ultimate chef, he prepares our
freshly grown, local, organic foods without salt. The morning starts
with salt - free Tuscan bread topped with their homegrown raspberry
preserves. During the Ricer tours, lunch is sometimes in another