Farmers’ markets, solidarity economies, community-supported agriculture, local food systems, and PGS.
I grew up in New York City and have loved pickles of all kinds since childhood. I never imagined that those delicious, crisp, garlic-infused pickles would one day set me on a path of discovery and exploration. In truth, alongside pickles, fermented foods such as bread, cheese, yoghurt, sour cream,…
You may have heard of homemade pickles, kimchi or kombucha, which seem to have become the latest craze among young people. In truth, you might never have considered that fermented foods are actually a staple in our kitchens. Whether it is soy sauce, vinegar, wine, cheese, miso or fermented bean…
Before starting my internship at Letian Bay Farm, I often pictured the customers here as a bunch of dedicated environmentalists. Otherwise, how could one explain why city dwellers would make the trek out to the countryside? In an age when everyone is rushing towards urban centres, going against the current…
Departing Xizhimen and passing through Nankou, the high-speed train crosses the high peaks of the Yanshan Mountains before reaching the Huailai Basin. Though less than an hour from Beijing, the landscape is entirely different: wide, flat plains, sprawling cornfields and vineyards, dotted with the massive towers of wind turbines. The…
“Whenever I travel to a new place, the first thing I do upon arrival is ask the locals where the market is.” In June, much as food writer Han Liangyi describes in *Wandering Through Markets Around the World*, I embarked on a market tour of Barcelona, Spain. Rather than the…
Key Takeaways The potential for profit has spawned professional anti-counterfeiting claimants. Following the introduction of punitive damages under the Food Safety Law—which raised compensation from three to ten times the purchase price—the formerly unprofitable food sector saw an influx of such professionals. While this has helped standardise food business operations,…
Over the past four decades, and particularly in the last ten years, China’s food system has undergone a profound transformation. Many have observed and experienced the following: local wet markets are quietly fading from mainstream daily life, while fresh food e-commerce and online grocery shopping have become the primary way…
Letian Haiwan Farm in Fengxian, Shanghai, is decidedly not your typical eco-farm. When I arrived for my internship this past March, I immediately sensed this place differed from my preconceptions of agriculture: it wasn’t simply about growing crops, but also involved leasing land and hosting events. You couldn’t help but…
Foodthink Says In 1924, Fei Dasheng, along with teachers and students from the Jiangsu Provincial Women’s Sericulture School, travelled to Kaixiangong Village in Wujiang County to establish the Silk Improvement Society, nearly a hundred years ago. Their aim was to reverse the decline of the sericulture industry and the widespread…
Three months at Happiness Fruit Baicaoyuan have blurred the passage of time. All I truly recall is the overcast sky on my arrival, and the cloudless blue as I departed. I. Discovering Baicaoyuan: A New “Peach Blossom Spring” Happiness Fruit Baicaoyuan is a farm situated in Guigang, Guangxi, not far…
