Traditional markets, food circulation and supply, market transformation, and urban food ecologies.
I am someone who succumbed to pressure; I couldn’t keep playing this game of racing between skyscrapers. Now, I write my story in the hope that as a “failed player” still in flight, I can identify from those past “failures” the things that truly made me feel lonely and depressed,…
Foodthink’s Take In the previous edition of our “Eat Well” column, dozens of Foodthink readers shared their “moments they wanted to avoid takeout”. Many expressed their frustration; although there are times they are tired of takeout, the frantic pace of work, a lack of culinary skill, or poor kitchen facilities…
I. Weather-Dependent Small Farmers and Mothers Seeking to Escape the Motherhood Penalty Affected by climate conditions, the survival rate for seedlings planted in late summer this year was remarkably low. Consequently, Hu Xuemei’s farm on the outskirts of Chengdu could not supply any vegetables for delivery over the past few…
Foodthink Says As May arrives, Yunnan once again enters the season for foraging wild mushrooms in the hills. In recent years, wild vegetables and mushrooms have surged in popularity. Not only are pricey varieties now regularly stocked in supermarkets, greengrocers, and online grocery platforms, but “wild foraging” (the practice of…
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.…
