ITALY

ITALY: University for slow food gastronomes

Students from around the world are flocking to a one-of-a-kind university devoted to the slow food movement, founded nearly a quarter century ago to promote "good, clean and fair" food, writes Mathieu Gorse for AFP. Nestled in the heart of the Langhe wine-producing region, near the white truffle 'capital' Alba, the University of Gastronomic Sciences, or UNISG, has a student body of more than 300.

Visitors to the six-year-old university, housed in a sprawling 19th-century complex once owned by the House of Savoy, may be surprised to see no pots or pans in the classrooms.

"The university was born from [Slow Food founder] Carlo Petrini's idea of looking at gastronomy like a science, stressing the affective, cultural and humanistic ingredients without which one cannot understand the value of food," said UNISG director Valter Cantino.
Full report on the Mail & Guardian site