Digital technology, agricultural technology, AI, and biotechnology applications in food and farming.
More than a year ago, I first encountered the concept of “climate-friendly rice farming” at a discussion on community-based agricultural practices addressing climate change. Last month, I travelled with fellow farmers from Panzhihua in Sichuan, Wuhu in Anhui, and Fuyuan in Heilongjiang to project sites in Kunming, Pu’er and Honghe.…
Foodthink Says Xibei has apologised and promised to improve, and Luo Yonghao has fallen silent; the storm over Xibei’s ready meals has subsided for now. But has the controversy truly ended? Debates and doubts regarding ready meals may resurface—what will be the next focal point? Before the public fully recognises…
Two years ago, I moved to a financial news outlet to cover agriculture full-time. I had hoped it would bring me closer to the land and to food itself, forging a fresh connection between journalism and the realities of daily life. Unlike food writers who dwell on flavour, I reported…
Qingming Festival is a time for ancestral worship and tomb-sweeping. This year it falls on4 April, which just happens to be404. This naturally brings to mind articles that have been marked404 not found. Last year, Foodthink saw several of its articles ‘disappear’ on its WeChat Official Account—the highest number to…
Foodthink Commentary Ahead of the Spring Festival, Ren Yingying, a post-90s farmer from Lianxiang Farm in Chengde, Hebei, was invited by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture to Berlin for the Global Forum on Agriculture, Food, Nutrition and the Environment (GFFA), where she helped draft a position paper…
I. Why is maize sprayed with pesticides six times? “I wouldn’t dare buy maize from outside,” Old Lei said with a smile. The remark threw me off. As a city office worker, a boiled cob is my favourite breakfast on any morning I oversleep. I had set out to conduct…
On 4 February, the Thai Department of Fisheries announced the successful development of a genetically modified Blackchin tilapia. The offspring resulting from crosses between this modified tetraploid tilapia and naturally occurring diploid tilapia are sterile. The government hopes this approach will help curb the spread of this African invasive species…
Foodthink Says Unbeknownst to many, the dining habits of Chinese people, long proud of their rich food culture, are being profoundly reshaped by digital technologies driven by the internet, algorithms, and artificial intelligence. This transformation is most evident in the way food is consumed. According to media reports, 275 million…
In 2024, we received a wealth of books spanning food, agriculture, ecology, sustainability, and culture, each capturing the complexities and possibilities of our world in its own way. From hurried workers to contemporary grassland pastoralists, from the food politics behind foie gras to the diverse efforts safeguarding seeds, from the…
Foodthink Commentary Some media outlets have dubbed 2024 “the inaugural year of GMO commercialisation” in China. In 2023, 37 genetically modified maize varieties and 14 GM soybean varieties passed varietal approval, while 26 companies were granted production and operation licences for GM maize and soybean seeds. In 2024, regional roll-outs…
