Foodthink Says How many people can commit to a single endeavour for a decade? The Nanning Urban Farmers’ Market is one such example. Since its inception in 2013, it has now entered its eleventh year. Held every two months, each market attracts dozens of vendors selling ecological produce from Guangxi—the…
Foodthink’s Take “Fungi are ubiquitous, yet easily overlooked.” These life forms, distinct from plants and animals, exist as a mysterious and powerful yet often ignored presence, offering clues on the path towards human exploration and coexistence with nature. How do fungi and plants prosper together? As the link between plants…
Sichuan Pepper Trees Climbing Higher Back in 2004, while conducting field research in a village in Mao County, Sichuan, a local told me: “The pepper trees are climbing the mountain.” He meant that while pepper trees once thrived best in the river valleys, that was no longer the case; they…
The suffering of this person shocks me, for it was unnecessary. — Bertolt Brecht The film *Upstream*, which focuses on food delivery riders, has been showing for over a week. Few films have sparked such widespread and intense debate prior to their release. Within these debates, two starkly opposing viewpoints…
When we think of Monsanto, it is easy to associate the company with the health risks of genetically modified (GM) foods. However, “Empire of Seeds” by Bart J. Elmore, a US scholar of environmental history, shows that the influence of agricultural capital—epitomised by Monsanto—on the human food system is actually…
Recently, irregularities in the transport of edible oils by tanker trucks have once again sparked public concern over food safety. From production to processing, and from transport to sale, every link in the chain affects the safety of our food. The workers, managers, regulators, researchers, and capital interests behind each…
I.“You have been penalised and demoted to shop assistant” “You have been penalised and demoted to store clerk.” A few months ago, Ms L, a store manager at a Convenience Bee branch in Beijing, suddenly received this message on her handheld terminal. In her daily routine, she had to keep…
6 July is International Co-operatives Day, and this year’s theme is “Co-operatives Build a Better Future for All”. The co-operative movement is a global social phenomenon. Since the founding of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in 1844, co-operatives have evolved over 180 years, taking root and flourishing across the…
I. Setting Out with Questions In late March, I began a three-month internship at Guixinyuan Farm. Partly, it was to see if I was cut out for a life of agricultural labour; partly, I was searching for an ideal model of farming: what should be the relationship between agriculture and…
I. My Story with Fireflies As a Northerner, I had never seen a firefly before the age of fifty; my limited knowledge was confined to the idiom “studying by the light of reflected snow and fireflies in a bag”. That was until I found myself immersed in a sea of…
