Foodthink projects, activities, and programmes.
This episode was recorded in the deserts of Alxa, Inner Mongolia, by Qihua, who oversees climate change and small-scale ecological farming research at Foodthink, alongside two guests. At the end of August 2022, the three sat beneath a large tree in an oasis within the Tengger Desert. You might catch…
In late 2021, I left Shanghai and the new media industry, where I had lived and worked for eight years, to embark on a gap year. I felt a freer force calling to me from deep within. I suppose it was a seed planted while reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Once,…
In 2021, the reality docuseries Clarkson’s Farm, chronicling an irascible old farmer’s attempts to run a working farm, scored a stellar 9.6 out of 10 on Douban. Season Two is set to premiere on 10 February this year. Why does wealthy, somewhat irascible old chap Jeremy Clarkson—who once hosted the…
Towards the end of 2021, while still working for an internet company in Shanghai, I came across a recruitment notice from Foodthink for their Ecological Agriculture Internship Programme. It was as though something had struck a chord within me. Once my application was accepted, I selected Yuanjian Farm in Meishan,…
For most people, 2022 was a real rollercoaster of highs and lows. Our colleagues at Foodthink shared the same sentiments. Our work plans shifted from the bold ambitions of 2021—aiming to tackle every challenge head-on—to a state of anxious uncertainty.
I. I. Head to the Farm! On the journey back to Kunming from Chengdu, I drove through a succession of long tunnels. My mobile signal flickered in and out, mirroring the ebb and flow of my mood. One moment I was still at the Chengdu Life Market selling luffa for…
I. I. Mother’s Hearth Heading northwest from Lijiang Old Town past Lashi Lake, the distant peaks of the Yulong and Haba mountains gleam silver-white, our journey threading through the high river valleys alongside the Jinsha River. Mid-October marks the transition between autumn harvest and winter planting. Though the land along…
