Who Says No One Will Work the Land in Future? Meet 25 Young People Running to the Fields

In early 2024, Foodthink launched the third “Ecological Agriculture Internship Programme” call for applications. Thank you all for your interest and enthusiastic responses — this year we received 62 farm internship applications, and following detailed discussions between Foodthink and 12 farm mentors and partner organisations, we have finally decided to invite 25 companions to formally become our interns.

We hope that, alongside harvesting food from the land, they will also harvest experience, skills and friendship.

I. Tianyuanbang Rural Learning Centre

Huizhou, Guangdong

Tianyuanbang’s original site covers 30 mu and the new site 12 mu. To complement its organic farming and rural-crafts nature education programmes, the farm carries out diverse mixed crop and livestock farming — growing a variety of grains, vegetables, herbs and fruit, and raising chickens, ducks, geese, cattle, sheep, horses, fish and other animals. Tianyuanbang runs over 100 activities throughout the year, including spring and autumn field trips, family camps during short public holidays, winter and summer camps, and agricultural or rural-crafts study programmes, with different content each season.

E C O L O G I C A L F A R M M E N T O R

Hu Weihe

In 2004, having left university before completing his degree, he joined the founding team of the Chengdu Waldorf School, serving as gardening teacher for five years while also teaching woodworking and clay modelling. In 2009, he went to Emerson College in the UK to study biodynamic organic farming in depth for two years, visiting Waldorf schools, biodynamic organic farms and communities across Europe. In 2015, he returned to his hometown to establish Tianyuanbang, exploring farming-and-reading education for a new era.

 

I N T E R N S

Landa

Born in the 1990s, a Nordic spirit at heart, retired from design consultancy in Shanghai. Currently exploring a sustainable lifestyle of labour without a job.

Healed by nature during a low period, she became interested in nature education and permaculture, hoping this internship will mark the start of a grounded rural life — learning from farm companions as well as from nature, letting body, mind and spirit first receive the “education” of the natural world, before becoming a good educator.

II. Pengcheng Natural Farm

Conghua, Guangzhou

Founded in 2014, the farm’s main cash crops are sweet potatoes, lychee and guava, grown across around 50 mu. The founder hopes that through practising natural farming, he can return to a life of health and peace, and that more people will have the chance to experience a healthier, greener and more sustainable way of farming and living.

E C O L O G I C A L F A R M M E N T O R

Wang Pengcheng

Born in the 1980s, formerly employed by a state-owned enterprise. Ten years ago, concerned about food safety and environmental issues, he decided to change his way of life, exploring and promoting natural farming in practice.

 

 

 

I N T E R N S | Little Whale

Born in the 1990s, devoted to truth, goodness and beauty, with over six years’ experience in the charitable sector. Began exploring and practising sustainable living in 2022.

Loves nature and longs for an authentic, healthy, unhurried rural life. In this fast-paced era, she hopes to stay true to her roots, sink her feet into the soil, let her body grow clearer, and let her inner core grow steadier and stronger.

She looks forward to seeing the true state of ecological agriculture and its wider possibilities, learning cultivation methods that are healthier for both nature and people, and meeting more kindred spirits to embark together on the journey of exploring ecological agriculture.

III. Guixinyuan Farm

Huizhou, Guangdong

Guixinyuan Farm is a permaculture design practice farm. The farm covers over 110 mu: woodland accounts for half, with 30 mu of ponds, 10 mu of orchard and 10 mu of vegetable and grain plots. It practises diverse planting — from everyday seasonal vegetables and fruit to staple crops. Livestock is mainly fish and chickens.

E C O L O G I C A L F A R M M E N T O R

Zhang Suqiang

A practitioner of urban farming, living a “half-X, half-farming” life for 14 years. He has been involved in projects including small urban permaculture farms, food and agriculture education in schools, community kitchen-waste composting, and ecological conservation.

 

 

 

I N T E R N S | Ze Jun

25 years old, with a bachelor’s degree in Chinese language and sociology; worked for a year at a food sustainability advocacy organisation.

Only three days at Guixinyuan Farm and it already feels like home. Waking every morning to birdsong, opening the door to sunlight and a fresh breeze, falling asleep at night to frogs and insects — what bliss. Working alongside everyone, a day slips by in no time. I came to the farm because I was standing at a crossroads in life: should I continue with food research, or become a labourer? Now that I’m here, I can see the two are not contradictory at all. How little I still know about food and agriculture — so I’ll just keep learning and working, one day at a time!

I N T E R N S

Cheng Hao

Born in the 1990s, has worked in government IT since graduating.

Out of concern for food safety, started paying attention to organic and ecological agriculture in 2019, with a long-held wish to devote himself to it. He hopes that, while practising sustainable farming, he can open himself up in nature, find a freer version of himself, and meet like-minded friends to walk alongside him in the years to come.

 

IV. Yinlin Ecological Farm

Conghua, Guangzhou

Yinlin Farm was established in 2009 and covers over 70 mu. It began practising ecological cultivation in 2013. The farm focuses primarily on vegetable production, following the laws of nature. Beyond simply avoiding pesticides, chemical fertilisers and herbicides, the farm has consistently produced in ways that are kind to soil, environment and people, adopting self-managed composting and grass-retention cultivation to improve soil quality and biodiversity. Through steadily deepening its scientific understanding of ecological agriculture, Yinlin Farm has gradually built its own cultivation technology system.

E C O L O G I C A L F A R M M E N T O R

Guo Rui

Graduated from South China Agricultural University in 2005 with a degree in biotechnology. Returned to his hometown to start his own venture in 2009, and began practising ecological cultivation in 2013. Along the way he took courses in natural farming, biodynamic farming and soil amendment, continuing to study and refine ecological agriculture techniques. He hopes the farm provides his family with comfortable living conditions, his children with a joyful environment in which to grow, and consumers with safe, healthy and nutritious food.

 

I N T E R N S

San Qi

Educator, self-explorer.

A good life is a process, not a state of being; a direction, not a destination. I’m here to open up another possibility in my life — not because the old one was bad, but because I hope for more possibilities. I want to learn ecological cultivation, open a farm of my own, and put a sustainable way of living into practice.

I N T E R N S

An Tian

A grower who loves nature and loves to build.

Childhood in the countryside — climbing trees, catching fish, picking fruit, all manner of farm work — gave adult me enough nourishment to last a lifetime. After ten years working in the city, I chose to return home, planning to create, together with my partner, a small farm suited to our own life. Before that, I hope this six-month internship will lay a foundation for the farm life ahead.

 

V. Letian Bay Farm

Fengxian, Shanghai

Letian Bay Farm covers 86 mu, of which over 40 mu is woodland, around 20 mu is planted area, and the rest is public space. Construction began in April 2020. The farm promotes a “five days in the city, two on the farm” rural lifestyle, with urban land-lease plots as its main offering alongside courses in agricultural education, nature experiences and handicrafts. Each member plot grows around 60 varieties of seasonal vegetables year-round, cultivated entirely by traditional farming methods — no pesticides, chemical fertilisers or other synthetic agents, only organic fertiliser and biopesticides.

E C O L O G I C A L F A R M M E N T O R

Yuan Qinghua

Master’s graduate of Renmin University of China. Has participated in Chinese rural development work under Professor Wen Tiejun since 2003. Formerly General Manager of Little Donkey Community Farm, General Manager of Design Harvest, and Operations Director of Chuangzhi Garden; currently General Manager of Letian Bay Farm. In 2008, studied natural agriculture under Cho Hangyu in South Korea; in 2010, earned a Geoff Permaculture Design Course certificate in Hong Kong. In 2019, obtained a Cornell University nature education certification course certificate. From 2009 to 2010, spent a year in Thailand studying organic cultivation within the Spirit of Rice system.

 

I N T E R N S | Huang Qingye

27 years old, master’s in organic agriculture. Successfully became a giant in theory and a midget in practice — an urban chicken-keeper. Grew tomatoes into cherry tomatoes and pumpkins into gourds; can hardly bring myself to tell people I studied agriculture.

After resigning without another job lined up, I’ve been travelling and ruminating on ways out of the youth crisis. Seizing this rare moment of “idleness”, I’m interning at a farm to answer my doubts about ecological agriculture and rural revitalisation through practice. I want to keep chasing a utopia recklessly, yet also hope to break through the idealism and see the difficulties of reality for what they are.

 

I N T E R N S | Xiao Ling

Master’s in design; five and a half years in landscape architecture, now keen to explore a new direction for myself.

My interest in agriculture grew from childhood: the year-round rhythm of farm work threads through my earliest memories, and every distinctive food records a season and a place back home. My understanding of ecological agriculture began with research as a student — topics spanning city and countryside, farm and table, gave me a rough grasp. Now I can take part in the day-to-day work of a farm and see how it actually runs. I couldn’t be happier.

I N T E R N S

Chi Chen

33, PhD in economics. Christian, a researcher of social innovation in agri-food systems, and a bread lover.

My original intention and hopes for the internship programme: 1) to understand how a farm can be operated and managed sustainably. 2) To learn and practise the act of farming itself. I hope to leave the internship able to operate and maintain all sorts of farm machinery.

 

I N T E R N S

Tong Qi

Born in 1995, a quality-inspection worker at a pharmaceutical plant.

After nearly seven years on the job, neither my body nor my mind was well. I came here hoping to find a natural, healthy, sustainable way of working and living — to eat good food, do meaningful work, and live well.

 

 

VI. Zhiliangtian Ecological Farm

Alxa, Inner Mongolia

The farm covers 1,000 mu, with 160 mu under cultivation. Main crops are muskmelons and millet; it also partners with others in Alxa to produce sustainably grown plums, desert lamb and similar products.

E C O L O G I C A L F A R M M E N T O R

Ma Yanwei

Founder of Zhiliangtian Ecological Farm and Zhixing Study Tours in Alxa; master’s in ecology from Beijing Normal University. In 2005, joined the Alxa SEE Ecological Association, and after leaving, settled in Alxa and founded Zhiliangtian Ecological Farm.

 

 

I N T E R N S | Gu Zi

Over thirty — always on the road, yet still bewildered about myself and the world.

Since graduating I’ve worked in fields touching nature, ecology, rural communities and education. Going full circle through those worlds, I found that being too far from nature made me fall ill too often. I want to be a little healthier, to steady myself against the faint anxiety that comes with the environment shifting so fast, and to spend more time with the land, settling into it. I also hope that after experiencing ecological agriculture more deeply, I can do more in the future for healthy soil, a healthy environment and healthy food.

 

I N T E R N S

Zeng Yunchuan

A woman born in the 1990s who has worked in the corporate sector, government and NGOs.

I used to be an idealist “adrift”, but after long years of grassroots practice and self-reflection, body and spirit have finally “landed on the ground”. At thirty, I’m following what’s inside me, re-establishing my bond with the land and with nature. Encountering Zhiliangtian is the perfect new beginning. So I’ll start here, on a new path.

 

I N T E R N S | A Chao

Born in 1995, completed graduate coursework in agronomy without finishing the degree.

Both the modern agriculture I was taught at university and the way I grew up in the countryside hold quite different principles from ecological agriculture, so I’m eager to learn what the practical differences between the two actually look like on the ground. I also want to find work that sustains my family while nurturing my spirit and drawing me close to nature and the land. That is my reason for joining the farm internship.

 

VII. Yuefeng Island Organic Farm

Kunshan, Jiangsu

Yuefeng Island Organic Farm was established with investment from the Kunshan City Investment Group. A national-level ecological farm covering 230 mu, it launched operations in 2010 on the shores of Yangcheng Lake in Kunshan, protecting water sources through land-friendly organic cultivation, with soil health at its core and organic principles in practice. By applying landscape-architecture techniques, Yuefeng Island weaves agriculture into the scenery, building a complete aquatic ecosystem and a rich terrestrial one, resulting in a composite landscape of cropland, vegetable beds, wetlands, woodland and distinctive built spaces coexisting. With farming at its foundation, Yuefeng Island delves into the ecological value of agriculture, systematically curates local farming culture, compiles educational materials, and runs a diverse range of farming-education activities.

E C O L O G I C A L F A R M M E N T O R

Tang Yaozhong

Head of Production Technology at Yuefeng Island Organic Farm and an organic rice expert rooted in local knowledge, he manages production and daily operations across the entire site, leading the team in strictly following organic production techniques and actively exploring sustainable ecological agriculture. He also liaises with research institutions within and beyond the province, collecting and conserving germplasm resources of local heritage varieties and screening out those suited to local cultivation and wider promotion, such as Su Yu glutinous rice, duck-blood glutinous rice and local taro. On the farm he designs playful, educational edible landscapes, works with local schools and families, and contributes to the development of food-and-farming education courses.

 

I N T E R N S | Ju Zi

An amateur cook with a soft spot for wild greens. An interest in food led me to agriculture, only for me to discover that without being a farmer yourself, your understanding stays at the surface.

The other day I visited Xiqing Farm, where Wang Xin, who has grown strawberries for ten years, casually dropped the line, “Plants can talk” — and it helped me grasp a little more of what sets ecological agriculture apart from the conventional kind. “From farm to table” — really, that means a season on the farm (or longer), and a few minutes at the table. I want to know: when a farm holds a reflective view of conventional agriculture and productivism, what happens there?

 

I N T E R N S | Shan Yi

27, a born-and-raised rural person.

Hard study won me a ticket into a high-rise office in the big city. These three years in Beijing since graduating, I’ve walked on steel-and-cement concrete every day and ridden underground trains as bright as broad daylight at any hour. After a while, days like these bring a sense of panic — as if your feet never touch real “ground”. I love the land; contact with it grounds me. Through this internship I want to return to the land and truly know it again, earning the land’s reward through my own effort along the way.

 

VIII. Lüwo Farm

Xianyang, Shaanxi

Lüwo Farm sits in the heart of the Guanzhong Plain in Shaanxi, beside the Zhengguo Canal. Founded by Da Hei in 2014, it practises Australian biodynamic farming. Its hallmark is following the ancient principle of “the supreme physician treats illness before it manifests”, with the restoration and invigoration of soil vitality as its foundation. It applies soil activation formulas made from purely natural materials and a diversity of green manure, and, guided by a keen awareness of the farm’s own character, develops and deploys system methods such as purpose-built conservation-tillage implements, to achieve healthy soil, resilient crops, reduced labour and environmental friendliness.

E C O L O G I C A L F A R M M E N T O R

Da Hei

Founded Lüwo Farm in 2014, learning and practising biodynamic farming methods, establishing a local biodynamic-farming association, and teaching as an instructor. Has retrofitted a great deal of farm machinery that does not damage soil structure and suits local conditions.

 

 

I N T E R N S | Chang Hongliang

Born after 1995. After graduating, worked on overseas hydropower plant construction under the Belt and Road Initiative; since leaving that job, has become a returning rural youth, exploring and learning the knowledge and skills of ecological agriculture. Starting from livelihood but not stopping there — seeking and realising self-worth, putting down genuine roots in the countryside.

Almost three months since quitting and returning home, these months back have had their joys and worries. The joy is winter giving way to spring, all things awakening, and all manner of experiences close to nature letting me — long absent from home — feel the pulse of life again. The worry is livelihood from a standing start in ecological agriculture, and the gap in values with family and friends around me — struggling to forge meaningful connections with the village’s land and people, unable to truly take root here. Now I’m about to set off for Lüwo Farm, hoping to learn biodynamic farming methods systematically, pick up skills in farm production, processing and operations, learn to be a down-to-earth new-age farmer, and take root in the countryside step by step. I also look forward to meeting all the mentors and fellow interns, learning and exploring together.

I N T E R N S

Ci Nao

Cityboy A doer, a casualty of consumerism.

After the inner shift from being terrified of insects to actually liking them, I started rethinking the relationship between people and nature. In my last job I felt I had far too much leftover energy — of body and mind. I want to start from zero, re-examine labour, production and social relations, feel the disparities and injustices within them firsthand, and, by taking the long way round, widen the map of my life experience.

 

I N T E R N S | Cheng Jin

A post-90s person who grew up in the countryside of Chongqing, formerly a communications officer at a property company and an employee at a Web3 studio.

After quitting at the end of 2023, I moved to Dali to settle long-term and began farming an empty plot in the middle of my landlord’s walnut grove, entirely on my own. As a desire to learn scientific farming took root, fate led me to meet several friends at Chaimido Living Farm who are passionate about and engaged in ecological agriculture, and I came into contact for the first time with concepts such as “no-till” and “mulching”. From then on, I began to learn about ecological agriculture through documentaries, books and other media, and have volunteered several times at food-forest-building projects at Chaimido Farm.

Healthy soil is the foundation of agriculture. I look forward to learning at Lüwo Farm how to restore and invigorate soil through biodynamic methods and how to grow crops scientifically. I hope that learning agriculture will strengthen my ability to survive, and that connecting with the soil will let me re-parent myself.

I N T E R N S | Ya

Born in 1992. Worked in media and finance. Wanting to be closer to the land.

I’m deeply grateful to Foodthink and Lüwo Farm for giving me the chance to engage with agriculture. I grew up in the city with almost no knowledge of agronomy, and I long for — and trust — that this internship will give me a more vivid, three-dimensional understanding of ecological agriculture. Through actual physical work, I will use my body to memorise what soil health, biodynamic farming, farm-machinery design, sprinkler irrigation systems, plant breeding, product processing, sustainability, ecology and environmental protection truly mean. I will draw closer to the land, treasure it, and hope to pass on the gift the land has given me to more people.

 

IX. Liangliang Family Farm

Chengdu, Sichuan

Founded in 2013, covering 30 mu (roughly 5 acres), it grows primarily small yellow ginger, along with a range of vegetables including carrots and wheat, as well as grain and oilseed crops (rotating between vegetables, grain and oilseed crops, and green manure). The farm runs activities such as farming and food education, living camps and summer camps. Liangliang Farm is a family farm embedded in its local village, uniting rural families, practising friendly farming and building an ecological community (Niujiaoyan Living Village), with extensive connections and interaction with the surrounding village.

E C O L O G I C A L F A R M M E N T O R

Tang Liang

Born after 1985. Owner-operator of Liangliang Farm. Graduated in 2008 with a degree in biological sciences from Southwest University, then worked at a technology company in Chongqing. In 2011–2013, completed a two-year internship at Xiaomaolü Farm and Sharing Harvest Ecological Farm. In 2013, returned home to found Liangliang Family Farm (Tang Family Liangliang Farm), practising friendly farming, uniting rural families and exploring a rural lifestyle close to the essence of life. In 2020, became a father and hopes to create, with his own hands, a vibrant home in which his child can grow — exploring the building of local ecological communities and future living villages.

I N T E R N S | Shi Liang

Born after 1980, a lover of the countryside, convinced that the road of ecological agriculture is bound to be bright.

Ten years ago I was deeply drawn to the organic farm life depicted in the book I Have a Farm. The past year has been a hurdle for me, crossing into my mid-thirties. Delivering takeaway meals, I once witnessed conditions at an oncology hospital, which led me to re-examine health; being laid off by a property management company made me lose all faith in working for others. After the pain and hard thinking, I finally realised that only by joining ecological agriculture can I ensure healthy food with dignity and a wholesome family life — and, given the chance, give back to society with clean produce.

I’ve been at Liangliang Farm for five days now and have felt the enviable way of life Tang Liang’s family leads. Early to bed and early to rise, the elders doing light work to nourish health, the children playing wild, visiting temple fairs, no tilling in the rain and no working at noon — a harmonious family atmosphere. Perhaps what I need to learn is not just techniques and knowledge like soil improvement, but also how to elevate my personal awareness and improve my family environment. That is also the focus of the farm’s “macro-ecology”: beyond ingredients, one should attract city dwellers to co-build an “ecological” global village through a harmonious family and an ecologically sound environment.

X. Xiqing Family Farm

Beijing

Xiqing Farm was established in August 2015, growing strawberries and a wide range of seasonal vegetables. Xiqing’s growing philosophy is to use quality soil to produce high-quality agricultural products. Fertilisation relies mainly on green manure, supplemented with plant-based compost. Over four years, we have built up a basic ecosystem on the farm, whose species diversity continues to grow.

E C O L O G I C A L F A R M M E N T O R

Wang Xin

Born after 1985. Graduated from Beijing University of Agriculture with a degree in ornamental plants. Has been researching ecological agriculture since 2011, hoping to grow a healthy, organic life from good soil.

 

 

 

 

I N T E R N S | Ba Jin

Born after 1980. I’ve been through companies, NGOs, small start-ups and schools — the restless type. Now I’ve arrived at Xiqing Farm and am starting to learn to farm~

I’ve always been searching for the kind of life I truly want — from the city to the countryside to going back home — only to find that the city’s pull has faded for me. So where is my pastoral dream?

When I saw Foodthink’s call for applications, passion surged; it dovetailed perfectly with a dream I’ve held for years of having a little patch of land. Rather than just imagining it, I want to step out of fantasy and truly experience farm life, then ask myself whether I can do it — and whether I love it. I hope to go from agricultural novice to someone with basic farming skills. My first goal is to grow vegetables independently and tend my own plot; further down the road, I want farming to be part of my life and find a way to look after my parents in their old age.

I hope I can become one of the farmers!

XI. Yirun Farm’s Happiness Fruit Herb Garden

Guigang, Guangxi

Yanping’s orchard sits beside Shitang Reservoir in Jidou Village, Wule Township, Guigang City, Guangxi. She grows 40 mu of Wogan mandarins and 10 mu of Emperor mandarins, more than 60 lychee trees and 50-odd banana trees, intercropping sugarcane and a small amount of coarse grains and wild greens. From June 2018, when she began experimenting with pesticide- and chemical-fertiliser-free management on six rows of fruit trees, to 2020, when the entire orchard fully transitioned to ecological cultivation, Yanping has grown into an ecological new farmer with both a guiding philosophy and hands-on practice.

E C O L O G I C A L F A R M M E N T O R

Xie Yanping

Fellow farmers like to call me Sister Yanping. I left home after high school to work in Guangdong, drifting for twenty years before returning to the land. I hope to live on this farm, labouring each day — good for my health and enough to support my whole family. What follows is my understanding of ecology, the direction and goal that guide me along this ecological path: every inch of soil is a paradise for microorganisms, and this soil can become a paradise for all living beings, nurturing and restraining one another, thriving together in symbiosis. Plant melons and reap melons; sow beans and reap beans. Only when the food forest is a food forest for all living beings can ecology be as natural and simple as the turning of sun and moon, the cycle of the four seasons.

I N T E R N S | Chen Yujun

24, a maths graduate. After a gap year I was meant to become a teacher, but I was diagnosed with a health issue that prevents me from speaking continuously for long periods, so I had to give up the idea. I love exploring, learning and practising.

 

 

 

 

After reading the manga Natsuko’s Sake and the book The One-Straw Revolution, I was moved by the emotions and ideas the authors conveyed and developed an interest in organic agriculture and natural farming. During the Spring Festival I helped out at my uncle’s Hongmeiren orchard and tasted a Hongmeiren mandarin grown organically — I was astonished by how different its flavour was from the conventionally grown ones I’d had in the city. That sparked a deep curiosity about the growing environments and methods behind our food. Our society is straying ever further from the real and into the abstract; people, trapped in man-made virtuality and even delusion, can no longer find a sense of genuine existence. The connections between people, and between people and the heavens and earth, seem ever harder to forge. Society grows ever more “high-end and grand”, yet the things closest to the essence of life — sleep, food, human warmth — go unsecured. I believe that caring for our food and its origins is a vital step towards reconnecting with a more authentic existence and a more natural form of life, and that a corresponding way of living might also be found by improving our relationship with food and its sources. All of these together are what drove me to take part in this programme and my eagerness to explore and practise agriculture.

I N T E R N S

Yi Nan

30, a biology researcher — a city-dweller who wants to understand and learn how to get along well with the land.

I very much want to learn how to live in harmony with the soil, to put down roots in the earth. And given my professional background, I’m deeply interested in the scientific side of ecological agriculture.

 

 

XII. Little Willow Farm Garden

Shunyi, Beijing

The farm isn’t large — just over 50 mu — but it is managed with great precision. Production plans are tailored to the seasons, and between twenty and thirty different varieties of vegetables and fruits are maintained each quarter, with physical and biological methods used to ensure soil health and suppress pests and diseases. Little Willow Farm Garden insists on using no herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, waxes, preservatives or other chemical inputs, upholding a philosophy of respecting and following the rhythms of nature and striving to create an ideal environment for plant growth. Under Liu Gang’s meticulous, diligent stewardship and that of his farm workers, the garden produces consistently and abundantly, offering a wide variety of delicious ingredients. It has built up a loyal “fanbase” and high-end restaurant clients — and has “never once run at a loss”, making it something of a benchmark for success among new farmers.

E C O L O G I C A L F A R M M E N T O R

Liu Gang

Born after 1965. In 2013, leased land in Shunyi, Beijing, and founded “Little Willow Farm Garden”. Dedicated to following the rhythms of nature and creating a natural, harmonious growing environment for plants.

 

 

 

I N T E R N S | Zhi Xing

Born after 1980. BSc in biological sciences, MSc in plant ecology, PhD in environmental engineering. Has worked at universities and an agricultural academy, conducting research in ecological treatment of water pollution, melon powdery mildew, and soil continuous-cropping obstacles, and is committed to bridging sustainable-agriculture research and industry.

I want to observe and learn through hands-on fieldwork in organic farming, accumulate practical experience in agricultural production, and test and develop the agricultural knowledge and theory I have already learned.

 

XIII. Farmers’ Seed Network

Founded in 2013, the Farmers’ Seed Network’s core work is agricultural biodiversity in-situ living conservation and sustainable utilisation. Currently, the network promotes participatory plant breeding, community seed resource registration, community seed banks and other biodiversity conservation and utilisation activities in more than 40 rural communities across 14 provinces. It is also dedicated to sustainable food and farming systems, the transmission of ecological cultural knowledge, and adaptation to climate change.

Stone City, Lijiang, Yunnan and the Naxi–Mosuo Three-Village Network: The Naxi and Mosuo villages of Stone City Village, Labe Village and Youmi Village, situated along the banks of the Jinsha River in a dry-hot valley in Lijiang, Yunnan, have formed a close mutual-aid and exchange network with the support of organisations such as the Farmers’ Seed Network. In addition to the community seed bank each village has established, they hold seed and local-culture sharing and exchange events from time to time. The diversity of ecological cultures has fostered a rich agricultural and culinary heritage in the area, and the three villages have produced several intangible cultural heritage inheritors in the field of agriculture.

M E N T O R

Mu Wenchuan

Naxi. Currently deputy secretary of the Baoshan Village General Party Branch, head of the participatory action group in Stone City, and initiator of the Three-Village Network. His family has lived in Baoshan Stone City Village for generations, and he knows the environment, culture and history of Stone City inside out. He has mentored numerous young people who have come to research and study in Stone City. He successfully had a traditional walnut-oil rendering technique recognised as a Lijiang municipal intangible cultural heritage project.

 

 

I N T E R N S | Ziqi

Art worker. Cares about seeds, domestication, relationships of care, and ecofeminism.

It was only when I started growing tomatoes on my home balcony in 2022 that I truly began to care, firsthand, about species, seeds, soil and the entire web of ecological relationships. Last year, friends and I set up a small vegetable patch in the city, and we’ve been learning from the land and our crops, working together. I had originally hoped to join Foodthink’s internship programme to learn more about conserving heritage varieties on a farm, and just happened to learn that the Farmers’ Seed Network was also looking for interns. Through a stroke of serendipity, I’m about to head to the Seed Network’s project site in Stone City, Lijiang. Though I’m brimming with anticipation for the journey ahead, I keep reminding myself not to set too many expectations — let’s just start with the most everyday of labours!

In 2024, let’s meet in the fields!

Coordinator: Mei Ying

Photos: interns, host farms, Foodthink