A day selling produce: a richer understanding of ‘farm-to-table’

In Sanyuanqiao, Beijing, there is an unusual community vegetable shop where all produce is delivered directly by local agroecological smallholders. Each piece of produce is tied to a specific grower’s name, and nothing is grown using pesticides or chemical fertilisers, adhering to strict production standards. This shop, called Ji Shi, is operated by the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market, and their farming partners often appear in Foodthink’s reports. Last year, we spoke specifically with the manager and designer of Ji Shi about the story behind the shop: When Design Meets Food: Ten Years of Renewal for a Beijing Community Vegetable Shop | Food Talk Vol. 20

As a recurring tradition and a form of “induction”, the Foodthink team spends one day a year selling vegetables at Ji Shi—a practice they colourfully call “Taking over Ji Shi”. In reality, the aim is to use a day of manual labour to experience first-hand exactly how the “last mile” of a fair and sustainable food-and-farming system operates.

This year’s sales team included a former international news reporter who had been with the company for only a week before being drafted into service, as well as a newcomer who spent six years studying agriculture and earned a Master’s in Agroecology from Wageningen University. Suddenly transforming from ordinary consumers into staff at a mission-driven vegetable shop, they made many new discoveries.

For instance, they noticed that products come from various smallholders, with a wide variety of cabbage to meet individual consumer preferences. These smallholders not only recognise their own produce but also personally step in to share the best cooking methods, showcasing the fruits of their hard labour. This fosters a deeper understanding of the knowledge, technique, labour, and other inputs behind the food, and consequently, its true value. “If you only eat two tomatoes a day, why choose from a hundred identical ones, rather than ones where every single one is different, grown by a farmer?”

Ji Shi is not large, but it stocks products from hundreds of agroecological farmers across the country. For vegetables in particular, a single type may have various cultivars delivered by different farmers, requiring careful distinction to avoid selling the wrong one. Pictured here is Qi Qi, the shop manager (far right), giving a stern briefing to Foodthink colleagues before their first “takeover”. Of course, they still ended up selling quite a few wrong ones.

In this episode of the podcast, two new colleagues engage in a conversation with two veterans who claim to have considerable experience in selling vegetables.

By spending a day as shop assistants, the team began to question the speed and “efficiency” we have come to take for granted. This led to a reflection on whether we wish to be “predictable” providers of labour or recipients of service, or diverse, emotional human beings. In the hustle and bustle of urban life, do young people still buy their own groceries? And abroad, have supermarkets like Whole Foods, which heavily market their health and ecology credentials, become a new, gentrified lifestyle? Is this also a form of “conspicuous consumption”?

What would you like to eat or cook this New Year? Please listen to Food Talk and join us as we dig deep into the intricacies of food, ecology, and life.

Guest(s) of the Episode

Ze En

A veteran “newbie” taking over Ji Shi for the second time, though most basic shop assistant skills have already been forgotten. An occasional shopper at the farmers’ market.

Tian Le

Founding editor of Foodthink. Technically a member of the founding team of Ji Shi, having worked there many years ago. However, they quickly discovered that an atheist wasn’t cut out for customer service and quietly stepped back to a behind-the-scenes role. Nonetheless, they will be on duty at Ji Shi with an old partner this Chinese New Year’s Eve; listeners are welcome to drop by and visit.

Wang Hao

Foodthink editor. Because of their palate, they claim to be a Northerner when facing Southerners, and a Southerner when facing Northerners, though they are actually from Beijing.

Ning Chen

Foodthink newcomer; a Southerner with Northern genes. Could eat aubergines and broccoli for a lifetime without tiring of them, and relies on hiking and yoga to offset the calories. Their New Year’s wish is to embrace uncertainty—it’s okay if they miss the bus.

Xiao Qi

Foodthink project officer; an agriculture student longing to reconnect with the land.

Host of the Episode

Xiao Jing

Podcast producer who loves drinking soy milk, eating jianbing, and buying strangely shaped vegetables at the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market. Planning to make pizzas during the next Ji Shi takeover next year.

Timeline

00:31 Tales from the editorial team: Why does a food-focused office spend one day every year selling vegetables? What goes through a new hire’s mind when they’re told they have to sell veg for a day right after joining?01:09 When we’re just shopping for groceries, we rarely consider the sheer volume of work that goes into running a community vegetable shop every day.

03:59 Even for a colleague with a degree in agronomy, actually selling the produce was a completely new experience.

05:15 Beijing Sanyuanqiao Ji Shi: An unusual community vegetable shop. Every piece of produce is delivered directly by local ecological smallholders; every vegetable is traceable to a specific farmer, is grown without pesticides or chemical fertilisers, and adheres to a set of rigorous production standards.

06:22 Editorial team on duty: A diverse array of products from smallholders—there are several varieties of cabbage alone, each from a different farmer. Customers seek bespoke quality; every shopper looks for that one “gem” of a product rather than standardised, mass-market fare.

09:02 Smallholders can recognise their own produce and even step in to show customers the best way to enjoy the Shawa radishes they’ve worked so hard to grow. Once you appreciate the deep knowledge, skill, and labour embedded in truly delicious and healthy food, as well as the other investments involved, the price makes perfect sense.

13:35 How many blunders did the editors make when they were on duty last year? Let’s take a look at the footage.

14:06 This unusual ecological shop evolved from the Beijing Organic Farmers Market and shares close ties with the Foodthink editorial team, which was also incubated by the market. This is the origin of the “Occupy Ji Shi” story: editors shouldn’t just call for change from their desks; they need to get out there and experience the “last mile” of ecological agricultural products.

18:02 After a day as a shop assistant, we begin to reflect on the speed and efficiency we take for granted in daily life: work messages that demand a reply in seconds, food deliveries that must arrive within half an hour—what does this actually mean? Are we to become predictable providers of labour or receivers of services, or diverse, emotional human beings? In the hustle of city life, do young people still buy their own groceries? Abroad, have supermarkets like Whole Foods, which lean heavily on health and ecology, become a new, gentrified lifestyle? Is this a form of “conspicuous consumption”? Or are we still diverse, feeling humans?

24:19 Do young people still go and buy groceries in person these days?

25:01 After selling vegetables and spending a day as a shop assistant, does the editorial team have a new perspective on grocery shopping?

29:08 Abroad, shopping at places like Whole Foods that champion health and ecology seems to have become a new, gentrified lifestyle. Is this a positive development, or just another form of “conspicuous consumption”?

31:59 Do the Beijing Organic Farmers Market and Ji Shi intend to “scale up and dominate” the way Whole Foods has?

36:50 “If I only eat two tomatoes a day, why should I eat two from a batch of a hundred identical ones, rather than two that are each unique, grown by a farmer?”

37:45 Compared to the growing public interest in issues such as gender, climate change, social stratification, and marginalised groups, what is unique about the discourse surrounding food and ecology?

39:18 As we enter the new year, what are the things you want to eat and the things you want to achieve?