Contrary to what it suggests, the term slow city does not refer to larger cities in the conventional sense, but usually applies to towns and smaller cities (in fact membership of the slow city movement is usually restricted to places with a population of under 50,000). The term emerged in English as a direct translation of the name of the Italian movement Cittaslow, where città means ‘town’ as well as ‘city’. Cittaslow was inspired by the slow food movement, founded in 1986 by Carlo Petrini, an Italian food and wine journalist who objected to the encroachment of fast food chains in towns and cities across the world. Petrini promoted the concept of slow food, carefully prepared food cooked according to traditional methods and using organic ingredients.