The Slow Food movement was started by Italian Carlo Petrini in 1986.  Concerned that the industrialization of food was standardizing taste and diminishing many food varieties and flavors, Petrini reached out to consumers and demonstrated that they have choices over fast food and supermarket homogenization. Today the organization is active in 50 countries and has a worldwide membership of more than 80,000; Slow Food U.S.A. has more than 12,000 members.