A Day Selling Vegetables: A Deeper Understanding of Farm-to-Table | Food Talk Vol. 29
Near San Yuan Bridge in Beijing sits an unusual community greengrocer. Every fruit and vegetable arrives directly from local ecological smallholder farmers. Each item is individually identifiable, grown without pesticides or synthetic fertilisers, and adheres to rigorous production standards. The shop, named Jishi, is run by the Beijing Organic Farmers Market, whose farming partners frequently feature in Foodthink’s reporting. Last year, we sat down with Jishi’s manager and designer to explore the story behind the shop: When Design Meets Food: The Ten-Year Rebirth of a Beijing Community Vegetable Shop | Food Talk Vol. 20
As an annual tradition and a form of informal onboarding, the Foodthink team spends a day selling vegetables at Jishi, playfully dubbing the initiative ‘Occupying Jishi’. Beneath the light-hearted name, however, lies a serious intent: to learn through physical labour how the ‘last mile’ of a fair, sustainable food and farming system truly functions.
This year’s volunteer lineup ranged from a former international news journalist drafted in after just a week, to a recent graduate who spent six years studying agriculture before earning a master’s in ecological farming from Wageningen University. Stepping abruptly from the role of everyday shoppers into the front lines of a mission-driven community greengrocer, they brought back a wealth of fresh insights.
They noted, for example, that the shop sources from a variety of smallholders, offering a diverse selection of cabbage varieties to suit individual tastes. The growers not only know their own produce intimately but also step up to share optimal cooking tips, proudly showcasing the fruits of their hard work. Such engagement fosters a deeper appreciation for the knowledge, skills, labour and care embedded in food, revealing its true worth. As one reflection put it: “If you only eat two tomatoes a day, why choose from a hundred identical ones when you could pick from a farmer’s crop where every single one is different?”
In this episode, two newer colleagues sit down for a conversation with two veteran team members who pride themselves on their extensive experience selling vegetables.
Spending a day behind the counter has prompted the team to reconsider our ingrained habits around speed and ‘efficiency’. It makes us ponder whether we are reduced to merely ‘predictable’ labour providers or service consumers, or if we remain multifaceted, emotional beings. In the whirlwind of urban life, do young people today still make the effort to shop for fresh produce themselves? Meanwhile, abroad, have health- and eco-led supermarkets like Whole Foods become synonymous with an emerging, gentrified lifestyle? Or is this just another guise of ‘conspicuous consumption’?
Episode Guests
Zeen
A seasoned “rookie” taking over the Jishi for the second time, having long since forgotten basic shop-floor skills. A self-confessed amateur shopper at farmers’ markets.
Tianle
Founding editor at Foodthink. He was also one of the original Jishi team members and worked there years ago. After quickly realising that atheists aren’t cut out for customer service, he quietly stepped back to the sidelines. This Lunar New Year’s Eve, however, he’ll be back on the shop floor with his old partner. Listeners are welcome to drop by and say hello.
Wang Hao
Editor at Foodthink. Thanks to his picky palate, he claims to be from the north when talking to southerners, and from the south when talking to northerners – though he’s actually a Beiping.
Ning Chen
A new addition to the Foodthink team. A southerner with a northerner’s disposition, she could eat eggplant and broccoli for the rest of her life. She relies on hiking and yoga to keep her waistline in check so she can keep enjoying food and drink. Her New Year’s resolution is to embrace uncertainty – if she misses the bus, so be it.
Xiao Qi
Projects officer at Foodthink and an agriculture student eager to reconnect with the land.
Episode Host
Xiao Jing
A podcast producer who loves visiting Beijing’s organic farmers’ markets for soy milk, jianbing, and oddly shaped vegetables. She plans to bake pizza during next year’s takeover of the Jishi.
Timeline
01:09 When we’re just heading out to buy vegetables, we seldom realise just how heavy the daily workload is for a community greengrocer.
03:59 For a colleague with an agronomy background, actually selling vegetables proves to be a novel experience.
05:15 Sanyuanqiao Jishi in Beijing: An unusual community vegetable shop. Every item of fruit and veg is delivered straight to the store by local small-scale ecological farmers. Each crop has its own name and provenance, grown without pesticides or synthetic fertilisers, and adhering to a stricter set of production standards.
06:22 The editorial team clocks in: The produce range, entirely sourced from smallholders, is incredibly varied—just look at the cabbages, with numerous varieties from different growers. Customers looking for something specific each want their own prized “gem”, rather than standardised, run-of-the-mill stock.
09:02 Smallholders can pick out their own crops, and will even personally show shoppers the best way to prepare their laboriously grown “Shawo radishes”. Once you appreciate the knowledge, technique, hard graft and other inputs packed into truly delicious, wholesome food, the price tag begins to make sense.
13:35 How many blunders did the editors who took a shift last year get up to? Let’s roll the clip.
14:06 This unusual ecological greengrocer actually traces its roots back to the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market. Its close ties with the Foodthink editorial office—also incubated by the market—led to the story of “occupying Jishi”: editors shouldn’t just sit in their offices calling for change; they need to step out and witness the final mile of the supply chain for sustainable agricultural produce.
18:02 A day behind the till sparks reflection on our everyday normalisation of speed and efficiency: work messages demanding replies in seconds, deliveries arriving in thirty minutes—what does it all actually mean? Do we want to become predictable labour providers or service consumers, or remain multifaceted, feeling humans? In our frenetic urban lives, do young people still bother buying their own vegetables? Meanwhile, abroad, have supermarkets like Whole Foods, with their heavy emphasis on health and ecology, become an emerging, gentrified lifestyle choice? Is this simply another form of “conspicuous consumption”, or does it reflect a desire to reconnect with our multifaceted, emotional selves?
24:19 Do any young people still make the trip to buy their vegetables in person?
25:01 After a stint selling vegetables and working a day shift, has the editorial team developed a fresh perspective on buying produce?
29:08 Abroad, shopping at health and ecology-focused retailers like Whole Foods appears to have evolved into an emerging, gentrified lifestyle. Is this a positive shift, or simply another form of “conspicuous consumption”?
31:59 Are the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market and Jishi planning to scale up and “get big” like Whole Foods?
36:50 “If I only eat two tomatoes a day, why settle for two out of a hundred identical ones, when I could have two of the farmer’s, each with its own character?”
37:45 Amid growing public concern for issues such as gender, climate change, social stratification, and marginalised communities, what makes food and ecological issues so distinct?
39:18 Looking ahead to the new year, what are you hoping to eat, and what do you plan to get up to?
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Episode Production Team
Coordination & Production: Xiaojing
Cover Art: Wan Lin
Music: Ba Nong
Editing: Wang Hao, Tian Le
Contact Email: xiaojing@foodthink.cn