The [1] Slow Food Movement was founded in Italy in 1989 to counteract the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world. The movement is founded upon the concept of “eco-gastronomy,” a recognition of the strong connections between plate and planet.

“We believe that the food we eat should taste good; that it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work.”

Slow Food organizes fairs, markets and events locally and internationally to showcase products of excellent gastronomic quality and to offer discerning consumers the opportunity to meet producers. Through the [2] Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, the non-profit organization promotes projects in “the world’s less developed countries, where conserving biodiversity means not only improving quality of life, but actually saving lives, communities and cultures.”

[3] Slow Food USA is a non-profit educational with 140 chapters, each called a “convivium,” that carry out the Slow Food mission on a local level. The organization is:

“dedicated to supporting and celebrating the food traditions of North America. [These traditions] reflect generations of commitment to the land and devotion to the processes that yield the greatest achievements in taste. These foods, and the communities that produce and depend on them, are constantly at risk of succumbing to the effects of the fast life, which manifests itself through the industrialization and standardization of our food supply and degradation of our farmland. By reviving the pleasures of the table, and using our tastebuds as our guides, Slow Food U.S.A. believes that our food heritage can be saved.

Slow Food created the [4] University of Gastronomic Science to offer a multidisciplinary academic program, bringing together the innovations and research of the academic and scientific world and the traditional knowledge of farmers and food producers.

The organization has published the [5] Slow Food Companion (PDF) that describes its history, mission, members, events and projects.
In May 2007, Slow Food and the Terra Madre Foundation are sponsoring a [6] Slow Fish Conference in Genoa, Italy.