Policy, institutional, economic, and technology trends shaping food and farming systems.
A Note from Foodthink In a previous article, “Have Nutritionists Become Food Giants’ ‘Stooges’? What Do Registered Dietitians Think?”, Foodthink revealed how North American food companies sponsor influencer nutritionists and industry bodies, relying on plausible-sounding but misleading science communication to try and shape public perception of food. A similar issue…
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…
This episode welcomes the social enterprise Muyunpo to Food Talk. We’ll hear how they have partnered with villagers to explore fairer and more sustainable production methods—one that protects the natural environment while bringing the village’s finest produce to wider markets, ultimately securing better returns for farmers. Xiaojin County in Aba…
Foodthink Says “Humanity’s unsustainable production and consumption patterns are pushing the planet to the brink of disaster,” is the opening line used by the United Nations to introduce Zero Waste Day, observed annually on 30 March. For urban residents in China, the single-use plastic waste accumulating in daily life is…
Foodthink Says On 7 March, Foodthink published an article titled *Farmland Polluted by Plastic Mulch Film, Absurd Buck-Passing Between Authorities*, documenting a farmer’s predicament: his fields were contaminated by plastic mulch film discharged during processing by a neighbouring enterprise. Yet the local ecological environment bureau and agriculture and rural affairs…
Selected work of the 2024 Foodthink Lianhe Creative Programme“Fake Meat” Ousts Real Meat: Dining Tables, Herders and the AmazonThe English version has been officially published on Sixth Tone (澎湃新闻’s English-language platform). It has been slightly abridged from the original draft. We thank Sixth Tone’s editors and our readers for their…
Foodthink Says 21 March is International Forest Day, with this year’s theme, “Forests: A Valuable Source of Food”. Yet on the other side of the world, Brazil’s beef industry continues to expand at the cost of felled forests and lost biodiversity. Faced with international demands to halt deforestation, major meat…
At the press conference of the recent National People’s Congress, the National Health Commission proposed a three-year ‘Weight Management Year’ campaign. This initiative aims to guide society in cultivating habits that prioritise weight awareness, scientific nutrition, and exercise, fostering scientific weight loss and a healthy lifestyle. Everyone should take primary…
Foodthink says Was there ever a moment when you suddenly decided to stop ordering takeaway? On 1 March, Foodthink’s new column “Eat Something Good” opened a call for submissions for ‘100 Moments You Realise You Never Want to Order Takeout Again’, and we were inundated with responses from readers. As…
Advertised under the banner “zero delivery fees, meals from ¥10”, Meituan’s “Pin Hao Fan” has seen office workers flock to it, drawn by its aggressive low-price strategy. Though the saying “you get what you pay for” lingers in the public consciousness, sparking concerns over food safety, I’ve had my own…
