Food-history researcher Zhang Sirui traces milk’s path to globalisation: once a “barbaric drink” to the ancient Greeks, an everyday beverage in China for barely more than a century, its history interwoven with science, politics and global trade.
From Qiandongnan to Baoding, from Thailand to the Philippines, seed-saving farmers and seed workers guard old varieties amid the standardised expansion of hybrid seed, questioning who has the right to decide what we grow and what we eat.
In 30 mu of foothill fields, hail wipes out apricots and rain washes away autumn crops. Wenzizi and Changjiaoling learn the craft from old farmers, sow more seeds, and over ten years have gathered two books and a way of living alongside the sky.
Former JD 7Fresh warehouse picker He Siqi spent 31 days in the warehouse: 9 minutes per order, 30 fen per item, 30,000 steps a day, supervisors shouting at any moment, and even on your period, no escape from the freezer.
Social worker He Siqi spent a month as a Forward warehouse picker at JD 7FRESH, experiencing PDA countdowns, surveillance-driven pressure and per-order fines—and seeing how the people behind “30-minute delivery” are squeezed dry bit by bit by algorithmic rhythm.
In the rain, riders have no weather allowance – just fines for not showing up, no sick leave, no circuit breaker. Former rider and Foodthink editor Yuyang, with host Xiaojing, discuss the risks shifted behind convenience, and how costs boomerang on everyone as wet markets and family-run shops vanish.
Beyond the Xibei pre-made meals controversy, small shops that stir-fry to order are being squeezed by central kitchens, local food memories are fading, and exhausted parents and international students may well have long since become unable to do without pre-made meals.
Videos of Zhejiang and Shanghai incineration plants “competing for waste” across provinces and municipalities went viral. But waste management advocates point out that overcapacity is the reality – legally mandated dioxin data, tested only once a year, is far from “real-time monitoring”.
Zhang Kai of Fenye Brewing and Xu Xin of Mars Elephant Lab use a single grain to bridge brewing and baking—from spent-grain biscuits to an Earth Day beer brewed from leftover bread from ten Beijing bakeries—reflecting the practical challenges of the local grain supply chain.
Following the viral “not enough waste to burn” video, calls to “throw more waste, forget sorting” emerged. Mao Da of the zero waste public welfare organisation and Sun Jinghua of Friends of Nature point out that excess incineration capacity exposes the lack of upstream reduction and sorting.