Escape the Desk Plan: Can Good Writing Sell Great Produce?

What happens when three people accustomed to long hours at a desk decide to sell vegetables at a community organic produce shop near Sanyuanqiao in Beijing? Will they manage?

Staring endlessly at screens, data, and back-to-back meetings, have you ever wondered: what is the point of all this? In this age of acceleration, countless streams of information pass before our eyes and fingertips, yet many have lost their grip on the tangible reality of work and life. There are moments when a fierce urge takes hold: I want to do something concrete, something you can see and touch—proper “manual labour”.

In this episode of Food Talk, we actually went and did just that. Hosted by Tianle, a founding editor at Foodthink, we are joined by veteran journalist and former Assistant Executive Editor at Caixin, Huang Chen (known as “Cousin Huang”), along with two younger Foodthink colleagues, Yuyang and Li Ye.

Stepping away from cramped cubicles and into the real-world theatre of selling vegetables, bustling around counters and produce stalls, what did they encounter? What did they observe, and what reflections arose? Our three guests share their genuine experiences working in the shop:

From the grand narratives of data journalism to settling on whose sweet potatoes taste best; from reporting on algorithm-driven sorting systems to personally negotiating with a customer over whether to swap out a batch of tomatoes. Through the physical labour of stacking, sorting, and photographing new arrivals, they rediscovered a long-lost sense of groundedness and being truly human.

It turns out that selling vegetables is not just a job, but a way of reconnecting with the world. Through this “cross-over” physical labour, they didn’t just learn to appreciate Wo-ta cabbage (Chinese flowering cabbage) or master the art of steaming cornbreads; in an atomised city, they witnessed how food can weave consumers, eco-farmers, and shop staff back together within a physical space, rebuilding a tangible, long-forgotten social support network.

In short, this isn’t an episode about “changing careers”. It’s an honest conversation about how we work, social structures, and the experience of our own bodies. It’s about stepping away from screens and finding peace with the real world through the work of our hands.

If you’ve ever felt the pull to step away from the glow of screens for a while, this episode might be just what you need.

Discussion topic: Would you take on a manual job just to regain a sense of tangible reality? Share your story in the comments below.

This/Episode’s/Guests

Huang Chen “Cousin Huang”, former Assistant Executive Editor at Caixin, founder of the “Hello, Data” workshop. Currently a long-term volunteer at the Sanyuanqiao community organic shop “Jishi”, a vegetable vendor crossing between grand data and everyday life.

Yuyang

Editor at Foodthink, currently busy fermenting pickled cabbage.

Li Ye

New project officer at Foodthink and the newest host of Food Talk.

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Tianle

Founding editor at Foodthink and convener of the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market.

Exclusive sneak peek: Been curious about the staff badges worn by Tianle, Li Ye, and Yu Yang? The time has come to lift the lid: they’re actually members of Foodthink’s “Vegetable-Selling Dream Team”!

On Saturday 7 February from 10:00 to 22:00, we’re taking over the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market community shop at Sanyuanqiao to claim the market space! To ensure everything runs smoothly on the day, several colleagues have spent the past three months as trainees, completing a 48-hour “undercover training” programme on the premises.

Over the 12 hours we’re manning the shop, eight Foodthink colleagues will trade their desks for aprons, transforming from writers into greengrocers. Stepping out of their editorial comfort zone and into the real world of physical labour, they’ll be liaising with farmers, greeting customers, sorting and packing, stacking shelves, and processing sales and printing receipts… Oh, and featuring a Foodthink tradition: preparing our own staff meals. Think of it as Foodthink’s annual get-together, but also as a special end-of-year report card we’re handing over to our readers.

Whether you’re popping by to put our greengrocer skills to the test, or simply want to meet the Foodthink team in person and pick up some top-quality produce, we welcome all our “spiritual shareholders” to Sanyuanqiao · Li Xiang on Saturday 7 February. See you there—fast as a galloping horse!

Discover more highlights from the ‘Occupying Jishi’ event.

Jishi, located in the Phoenix International Shopping Park near Sanyuanqiao in Beijing, is precisely that: a small, thoughtfully designed community vegetable shop. Photo: Li Ye

The vegetables and fruit sourced from our eco-farming partners may not be perfectly shaped, but they are undeniably packed with skill and care. Photo: Li Ye, Huang Chen

Some of the shop’s delightful little curios: a jar of Sichuan pickles labelled ‘Not for sale’, and a pot of enoki mushrooms left to dry naturally. Photo: Li Ye

What exactly do you eat when working at a community vegetable shop that requires you to cook your own meals? Left: A day’s worth of home-cooked meals prepared by our cousin during her shift. Right: A pizza baked by Jishi staff using slices of toast. Photo: Huang Chen, Li Ye

Jishi is far more than a mere vegetable shop; it is also a shared table for small-scale farmers. Photo: Li Ye

It also serves as a showcase for ecological agriculture and sustainable living. Photo: Li Ye

At Jishi, you are invited to truly get to know your food. Even if you have no intention of buying anything, you are always welcome to wander through this shared space and simply stay a while. Photo: Li Ye

Timestamps

02:20 Why did a media professional with an ‘academic overachiever’ background switch to selling vegetables?06:32 What exactly does working at a greengrocer’s involve?

10:25 Observations on online and offline shopping: Do we still need physical greengrocers?

17:33 Trapped in the system: Are algorithms optimising or alienating the labour of e-commerce sorters?

22:22 Mental hygiene: Why are today’s young people starting to ‘fall in love with physical labour’?

24:55 Fighting anxiety: How selling vegetables keeps me grounded in the present

29:21 In a busy, atomised society, sometimes sacrificing a bit of efficiency is worth it for genuine human connection

35:41 Do support systems exist in the workplace?

40:10 Reflecting on utopia: In reality, we’re doing the ‘physical labour’ we’ve always idealised

46:50 Beijing in 2015: An economic upswing that felt like a place to escape from

49:40 How the Trisolarans would struggle to understand humanity’s disconnect between knowing and doing

53:43 Behind grand narratives are real individuals: We are more than just a 5.0% GDP growth figure

56:36 What practical tips and trivia can you learn from selling vegetables? Which vegetables are best for winter in the north?

01:01:06 Returning to the concrete, to human connection, to humanity

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Published by Foodthink