Foodthink’s Perspective As the commercial seed industry continues to grow, heirloom seeds and ancestral varieties are becoming increasingly marginalised. Their disappearance is not only a loss of biodiversity but also signals the gradual decay of diverse local culinary traditions and cultures. However, a growing number of seed savers are now…
This episode was recorded in the Alxa desert of Inner Mongolia by Qihua, Foodthink’s lead on climate change and ecological smallholder research, along with two guests. In late August 2022, the three of them sat under a large tree in an oasis within the Tengger Desert; you may hear the…
At the end of 2021, I left Shanghai and the new media industry, where I had lived and worked for eight years, to embark on a gap year, feeling a more liberating force calling to me from deep within. I believe the seed for this was planted when I read…
The theme of today’s Central Document No. 1 is, unsurprisingly, rural revitalisation once again. With rural affairs having been the focus of this document for twenty consecutive years, the media, the public, and the government are all under pressure to innovate and ‘find some highlights’. In recent years, the involvement…
In 2021, the first season of the reality documentary *Clarkson’s Farm*, featuring a grumpy old man trying his hand at farming, earned a high score of 9.6 on Douban. This February 10th, the second season is set to premiere. Why has Jeremy Clarkson—the wealthy old man and former host of…
Foodthink’s Take How exactly is agriculture being affected by climate change? Foodthink has published a series of articles on this topic. Today, we share the insights of a grower on the front line. Zhao Fei graduated from the College of Agriculture at China Agricultural University, after which he joined Pingren…
At the end of 2021, while still working for an internet company in Shanghai, I came across a recruitment notice for Foodthink’s ‘Ecological Agriculture Intern Programme’, and something about it really resonated with me. Once my application was accepted, I chose ‘Meeting Farm’ in Meishan, Sichuan, as my destination. As…
For most people, 2022 felt like a rollercoaster, full of highs and lows. The team at Foodthink felt much the same; our ambitions, which in 2021 had been to venture far and wide, shifted towards a state of constant apprehension and anxiety.
In 2022, Foodthink launched its podcast, “Food Talk”, broadcasting 12 episodes over the course of the year. Beyond our usual writing and events, we can finally connect with friends from all over through the medium of sound. We are most delighted that over 1,400 listeners have subscribed to us on…
Once pioneer species establish themselves within an ecosystem, they gradually improve its carrying capacity, paving the way for a wider variety of other species to enter. As biodiversity within the system increases, the pioneer species themselves are gradually marginalised. — Pioneer species, an ecological concept I. I. Around ten years…
