Environmental pressures, climate change, biodiversity, species protection, and pollution.
In 2021, after a decade of drifting in Beijing, I returned to my hometown of Shenxian County in Shandong due to my mental and physical health. I stayed there for nearly a year. Shenxian is often called “China’s premier vegetable county”, with fruit and vegetable cultivation covering more than a…
In late June, while travelling by car to Jiangbutasi village in eastern Altay, Xinjiang, we kept coming across Kazakh herders on horseback driving their livestock to summer pastures. Vehicles frequently had to pull over to let the herds pass. This is now the migration season for herders. Herders in the…
Last year, Foodthink published an article 《Taking an Internet Celebrity Home to Sell Navel Oranges: Only Then Did We Realise How Tough Life Is for Fruit Farmers》. In it, Fengche, who works in Guangzhou, shares her story of returning to her hometown to help sell oranges for her family, which…
Recently, reports of Henan’s ‘rotting-field rain’ and the frantic rush to harvest wheat have swept across social media, striking a chord with everyone who follows agriculture. The Guanzhong region of Shaanxi, another major wheat-growing area, endured the same downpours almost simultaneously with Henan, and the outlook for its wheat crops…
Effective from 11 May this year, a revised national food safety standard officially came into force. The maximum residue limit for procymidone in chives has been raised from 0.2 mg/kg to 5 mg/kg – a twenty-fourfold relaxation. Although prochloraz is classified as a low-toxicity pesticide, long-term ingestion may still pose…
In recent years, more and more people have turned to specialty coffee. It is genuinely fascinating, is it not? Some cups taste of chocolate, others bring to mind the bright pop of crackling candy, and still others carry the aroma of black tea. Then again, coffee can occasionally leave you…
Since 6 April, Damao Banner in Baotou City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has been hit by almost daily sandstorms. The worst hit was on the 10th, when a storm persisted for nearly five hours, obscuring the sun with blowing sand and leaving the interior of houses in gloom. “We had…
The 10th Annual Conference of the Farmers’ Seed Network took place on 8–9 April 2023 at the Institute of Organic Cycling, China Agricultural University (Suzhou). Acting as a co-organiser, Foodthink was present on site and played a central role in shaping and moderating the conference programme. Four community partners supported…
Twenty hours later, my feet finally touched down, sinking into the deep snow of Lapland, northern Sweden. It was seven in the morning, and the skies above Jokkmokk had yet to fully brighten, yet the glare reflecting off the surrounding white expanse was already sufficient to make out the silhouettes…
“I have a thought, though I’m not sure if it will be of any use?” The grandmother and the former steward simultaneously fixed their gaze on her. She explained, “Our household is busiest in the spring and largely idle in autumn. Why not take this opportunity to trade in Hangbai…
