Policy, institutional, economic, and technology trends shaping food and farming systems.
I. Catastrophic Harvest Collapse: Lychees Face a ‘Super Lean Year’ Conghua District in Guangzhou is one of Guangdong’s main lychee-growing regions. July is normally the peak of the local harvest, yet familiar sights are disappearing. Branches that once bowed under heavy fruiting are now just lush with green leaves; you…
“These oats were sown in mid-October last year, and we found the ‘Eagle’ variety gave the best performance. If we opt for closer planting, the yield per hectare will be higher.” “Have you ever tried wider spacing?” On 12 June, at Gut Wilmersdorf, an organic farm an hour’s drive from…
I. “You Have Been Penalised and Demoted to Clerk” “You have been penalised and demoted to a clerk.” A few months ago, Ms L, a store manager at a Bianlifeng branch in Beijing, suddenly received a message to this effect on her handheld terminal. As part of her daily routine,…
6 July marks International Cooperative Day, with this year’s theme being “Cooperatives are building a better future for all.” Cooperatives form a global social movement. Since the founding of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in 1844, the movement has spanned 180 years, taking root and flourishing across the globe.…
Taking a break from a conference in Nanning, we caught up with our old friend Huang Yajun. As a seasoned rural development practitioner, Yajun, born in the 1980s, has witnessed over a decade of shifts in the countryside. From grassroots, community-led explorations to government-driven poverty alleviation and rural revitalisation initiatives,…
I was born in a small mountain village in Hunan where tea was grown. Growing up amongst the tea gardens and surrounding woods gave me a particular fascination with the tea industry. When I was a child, tea production in the village lacked a systematic approach. Every household treated it…
Which documentary once shaped the career choices of our colleagues at Foodthink, prompting us to dedicate ourselves to the food and agriculture sector? Perhaps it was this one: *Food, Inc.* Released in 2009, the documentary pulls back the curtain on the inner workings of the US food industry, placing particular…
A Word from Foodthink Today is International Day for Biological Diversity. This year’s theme is “Biodiversity: A Shared Endeavour” (Be part of the plan). For most people, the most direct way to get involved is simple—through what we eat. Through our diet, we can savour the wonders that biodiversity brings,…
Is genetically modified rice truly safe? Why can it not be commercialised without scrutiny? On 18 April, a Philippine court ruled that the commercial promotion of Golden Rice is unconstitutional, once again reflecting society’s cautious stance towards GM staple crops. The court also ordered the Philippine government to revoke the…
Anyone who has visited the grasslands of Inner Mongolia will be familiar with steaming pots of salted milk tea and traditional Mongolian dairy foods. Last summer, during my fieldwork in Sangendalai Town, Zhenglan Banner, Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia, local herding households would invariably treat me to these delicacies. Initially, I…
