Traditional markets, food circulation and supply, market transformation, and urban food ecologies.
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,…
The Spring Festival holiday has passed. What hometown flavours did you enjoy when you went back this year? In this episode of Food Talk, the Foodthink team gathers to share their culinary memories of the festivities. From Shaanxi to Hainan, and on to Harbin and Beijing, each region boasts its…
In 2016, I had a few rather unsuccessful shopping trips to Sanyuanli Market. I only recently made my way back, drawn by the exhibition and the urge to check in, only to find it had long since settled on its new identity: an art scene. Seven years on, Sanyuanli has…
Before winding eastwards into Beijing’s urban centre, the Yongding River traces a series of U-shaped bends through the hills. The villages of Longjiazhuang and Shuiyuzui lie on opposite banks, linked by a single road bridge. From 29 July to 2 August, extreme rainfall across the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region caused the Yongding…
“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 Food safety issues can arise at any stage of the supply chain. If regulation fails to keep pace in other areas, simply slapping heavy fines on individual street vendors is a superficial fix that addresses the symptoms, not the root cause, and will not solve food safety problems.…
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…
In this episode of Food Talk, our hosts welcome back an old friend: Shu Meng, PhD in Sociology from Cornell University. Drawing on her widely read article, “The Bigger the Fridge, the Worse the Food? The Food System in Middle-Class American Fridges”, we delve into a pressing question: why does…
Nestled among the trendy restaurants and cafés on the bustling Phoenix Hui retail street along Beijing’s Eastern Third Ring Road is a greengrocer named “Jishi”. If you’ve ever walked past it, you might have been drawn in by its unpretentious shop window and displays. In this episode, we take you…
At first glance, food security might seem like a rather academic subject, but it is fundamentally tied to the dietary health and nutrition of every individual on a daily basis. I will begin by unpacking the concept itself, tracing how this comprehensive framework took shape and the key developments it…
