Food production, farmers, rural society, and agroecological practices.
Foodthink Says “Fungi are everywhere, yet remarkably easy to overlook.” Distinct from plants and animals, these life forms exist as mysterious, powerful, and often overlooked presences, quietly guiding humanity’s quest to live in harmony with nature. How do fungi and plants flourish together? What crucial role do mycorrhizal fungi play…
This year, whether in town or in the countryside, everyone agrees that vegetable prices have soared. Yet as we complain about rising food prices, those working the land face challenges like never before. Few stop to ask: why have prices climbed so sharply, and are the farmers growing them…
With the twelfth lunar month drawing near, a Shaanxi person’s comfort food invariably boils down to a simple bowl of tossed noodles: Yanguiqing’s Red Guangtou wheat wide noodles, sizzling chilli oil made from Qin pepper powder, and a rich minced pork topping crafted from free-range mountain pigs—the latter being the…
I first encountered ecological agriculture around 2016. Through my work in nature education, I naturally crossed paths with practitioners in the field, learning that many were cultivating the land to produce healthier food, foster sustainable environments, and build a better way of life. Back then, I was tending flowers and…
I. Weather-Dependent Small Farmers and Mothers Seeking to Escape the Motherhood Penalty Affected by climate conditions, the survival rate for seedlings planted in late summer this year was remarkably low. Consequently, Hu Xuemei’s farm on the outskirts of Chengdu could not supply any vegetables for delivery over the past few…
Foodthink Says This year is on track to be the hottest on record. Yet at the recently concluded twenty-ninth UN Climate Change Conference, nations continued to dispute funding allocations, repeatedly bringing negotiations to a standstill. The climate finance gap for agriculture, in particular, remains staggering. So, when we talk about…
Foodthink Says What kind of agricultural training do farmers actually need? After nearly twenty years working in rural communities across the country, Lao Liu (Huang Guoliang) has some thoughts on the matter. In his view, understanding agricultural training begins with answering a more fundamental question: what kind of knowledge framework…
“The American system prides itself on being a highly successful culture because we keep more people locked up than we have farmers. To feel smug about such a statistic is utterly contemptible.” Five years on, I still vividly recall the shock I felt when I first read Joel Salatin’s *Everything…
It is autumn harvest season once again, and whether crop stalks should be burnt has once more become a widely debated social issue. In October, open and uncontrolled burning of crop residue showed a rising trend across several areas in Hunan province, worsening air pollution in some districts. As a…
Sichuan Pepper Trees Are Moving Uphill In 2004, I was conducting field research in a village in Mao County, Sichuan. A local resident remarked, “Sichuan pepper trees are moving up the mountains.” He meant that these trees once thrived in the river valleys, but conditions have changed. They now grow…
