Policy, institutional, economic, and technology trends shaping food and farming systems.
Foodthink Says Globally, a growing number of scholars, policymakers, and practitioners are championing and adopting the concept of “agroecology”. While this term may still feel somewhat unfamiliar in Chinese-speaking contexts, it is frequently translated as “ecological farming”. Yet “ecological farming” falls far short of capturing the rich, multifaceted nature of…
If you visit Pu’er in Yunnan this spring, you’ll find coffee farmers everywhere in high spirits. Green coffee bean prices have been climbing steadily for a year, jumping from 38 yuan per kilogram in early 2024 to 66 yuan per kilogram by May this year—a surge that has even outpaced…
From the media dispute between JD.com and Meituan over delivery riders’ social insurance in April, to the new regulations mandating compulsory contributions from 1 September, the working conditions of these riders have increasingly drawn public attention. Yet for many of them, social insurance remains a distant concept, overshadowed by the…
On 4 July, US Independence Day, Trump signed the “Make America Beautiful Act”, announcing that his most critical agenda for his second presidential term had passed Congress. This sweeping tax-cut and spending bill touches on every facet of US social policy. While Trump claims the “Make America Beautiful Act” will…
Many view craft beer as a niche culture centred on individuality and distinctive taste. Yet long before the arrival of industrial lagers with their monotonous, watery profiles, brewing traditions and flavour profiles were inherently diverse. Beyond the flattening of taste, industrial beer has also stripped fermented foods of their natural…
Foodthink Editorial Torrential rain has struck Beijing once again. This time, the flooding has swept through the northern mountainous regions. Upstream of the Miyun Reservoir, water inflow reached its highest level since the reservoir was first constructed in 1959, peaking at 6,550 cubic metres per second — but what does…
“Complaints and mishaps pile up every early morning. Yet I choose to switch off my phone and bury myself in sleep: they are never serious enough to drive clients away or push the slaughterhouse into bankruptcy. They simply keep turning up at their usual time each day, keeping our routines…
Disappearing Foods Original Title: Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need To Save Them Author: Dan Saladino Planner: Beiye Books Publisher: Wenhui Publishing House Translator: Gao Yubing Publication Date: November 2023 Foodthink’s Take *Eating to Extinction* explores the crisis facing global food diversity, while issuing a…
That loaf of bread has sold out again. This weekend, as usual, I headed to the supermarket to stock up on next week’s “survival rations”. I made my way to the bakery aisle looking for Jason’s Sourdough, only to find the shelves completely bare, save for a white “Out of…
I. Branches laden with lychees Until my father sent me a photo on his phone of the branches heavy with lychees, I had never once thought of going back home to help sell them. My hometown is Lufeng City in Guangdong Province, where our family tends a lychee grove covering…
