Friends were divided on whether Guan Qi was an introvert or an extrovert. Several people had asked him directly, only to receive a different answer each time. After he passed away, as we gathered together, we realised this was a truth that could never be pinned down. Whenever I recall…
Foodthink Says This is the third field report from Foodthink’s visits to small-scale fishing communities in southern Thailand. The first two pieces explored how fishermen joined forces to oust commercial trawlers, form a national alliance, and actively engage in legislative and policy advocacy, and how ‘community conservation areas’ empowered locals…
Foodthink Commentary This is the second set of field notes from our visit to fishing communities in southern Thailand. This January, Foodthink accompanied Blue Climate Partners into fishing villages along Thailand’s southern coast to observe how small-scale fishers safeguard marine resources. Across three mangrove communities on the Andaman Sea coast,…
Foodthink Says In January this year, Foodthink joined Blue Climate Partners to visit fishing villages in southern Thailand to understand how small-scale fishers and grassroots NGOs are joining forces to combat overfishing and achieve a win-win for both conservation and livelihoods by establishing “community-managed protected areas”. Journeying from Trang to…
I. Debunking the Myth of Western Modern Agriculture There is a familiar paradigm of social progress: humanity advanced from hunting and gathering and slash-and-burn cultivation to settled agriculture, and then from intensive smallholder farming to large-scale industrialised agriculture. But did history truly unfold in this manner? Is large-scale monoculture really…
Seeds are the vital carriers for the continuation of plant species. Human survival and flourishing are equally inseparable from them; every food we eat, whether grains, flours, oils or vegetables and fruits, begins as a tiny seed. Different seeds yield crops with distinctly different flavours. The reason we can no…
Weeds are not the ‘other’; weeds are us. — Michael Pollan, Weeds: In Defense of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants Since last year, I have visited over a dozen ecological farms across the country with the Foodthink team, travelling from Beijing to the coastal cities of the Yangtze River Delta, and…
Foodthink Says In China, the Atlantic salmon is better known by a simpler name: salmon. Last week, we published an article on salmon farming titled Is Salmon Truly “Free”?. So, what exactly is the plight of wild salmon today? We may well have forgotten what genuine wild salmon are, and…
I. More Than a Mere Bystander In July, Beijing is at the height of summer. On this land I am soon to leave, seeds sown in spring are now bearing plump fruit. As I immerse myself in the joy of the harvest, I also come to realise how precious the…
Foodthink says *Disappearing Food* is a book that explores the global crisis of food diversity, serving as a vital call to action for the conservation of local germplasm resources and the preservation of cultural heritage. On 9 July, Foodthink and Beiye Books jointly launched the *Disappearing Food* online reading group…









