"Slow Food began in Italy with the foundation of its forerunner organization, Arcigola, in 1989 to resist the opening of a McDonalds Restaurant near the Spanish steps in Rome.

The Slow Food organization has expanded to include over 85,000 members with chapters in 132 countries.

All totaled, 800 local convivia chapters exist. 360 convivia in Italy are composed of 35,000 members, along with 450 other regional chapters around the world.

The organizational structure is decentralized: each convivium has a leader who is responsible for promoting local artisans, local farmers, and local flavors through regional events such as Taste Workshops, wine tastings, and farmers' markets.

Offices have been opened in Switzerland (1995), Germany (1998), New York City (2000), France (2003), Japan (2005), and most recently in the United Kingdom.

Numerous publications are put out by the organization, in several languages.

Recent efforts at publicity include the world's largest food and wine fair, the Salone del Gusto, a biennial cheese fair in Bra called Cheese, the Genoan fish festival called SlowFish, and Turin's Terra Madre ("Mother Earth") world meeting of food communities.

In 2004 Slow Food opened a University of Gastronomic Sciences at Pollenzo, in Piedmont, and Colorno, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

Carlo Petrini and Massimo Montanari are the leading figures in the creation of the University, whose goal is to promote awareness of good food and nutrition".