No Lunch Today, Just a Reading List

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In celebration of World Book Day on 23 April 2025, Foodthink has gathered book recommendations from our editors, authors and peers. Without any prior discussion, these selections have all independently converged on a foundational relationship vital to human existence: our connection to food, the land, and the natural world.

From Latour’s exploration of how to rebuild political imagination amid an ecological crisis, to the transformation of the French countryside in the face of modernisation; from firsthand accounts of the arduous path of China’s environmental movement, to the complex interplay between capital flowing into the countryside and traditional rural society; from Shimpei Abe’s insider revelations on industrial food additives, to urgent warnings about vanishing food diversity, alongside deep reflections on our modern dietary landscape—these works together offer a multifaceted examination of contemporary food and environmental systems. More importantly, they remind us that beyond mainstream paradigms of knowledge lie equally rich and valuable ways of understanding the world.

May these books broaden our horizons and spark new imaginings, helping us navigate our complex present by finding pathways to reconnect with the land, with nature, and with one another.

Where Do We Land? A Political Manifesto in the Age of Ecological Crisis

Author: Bruno Latour (France)

Translator: Hu Enhai

Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House | Yeren

Published November 2023

Where to Land? A Political Manifesto in the Age of Planetary Crisis is a slender volume published by the French sociologist Bruno Latour in 2017, during Trump’s first term in office. It serves both as a response to Trump’s rise to power and withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, and as a meditation on ecological politics, the left–right divide, and the tensions and potential synergies between localism and globalisation. When Latour passed away in 2022, one wonders whether he might have foreseen Trump’s second election. For those of us who must navigate his second term and bear the consequences of his actions, this compact book offers timely strategic inspiration: how to champion diverse localities whilst forging a globalisation that serves both the ecology and the people.

——Tianle (Founding Editor of Foodthink, Convener of the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market)

Reinventing the Countryside: The Decline and Revival of French Rural Society Since 1945

Author: Sarah Farmer (USA)

Translator: Ye Zang

Guangxi Normal University Press / 望mountain

Published: November 2024

Rural communities are fading, yet the imagery of the ‘countryside’ is repeatedly invoked across politics, culture and consumerism, even heralded as the wellspring of a nation’s distinct character. This imagined rustic world grows ever more distant from reality. This is not 21st-century China; this is 20th-century France.

The French countryside was never merely about wine estates; historically, it was the domain of smallholder farmers too. Contrary to popular belief, the rural landscape before the Second World War differed little from the era of the Vendée uprising, with family labour on small farms still largely dependent on draft animals. Yet in the post-war years, rapid industrialisation and population mobility precipitated ‘the vanishing of the peasantry’. What filled the hollowed-out countryside were disparate practices: modern agriculture powered by tractors; urbanites relocating to the country to purchase old homes and convert them into holiday houses; and utopian communes founded by left-leaning youth.

The story that resonates with me most appears in the final chapter, concerning the photographer Raymond Depardon. As the son of a farmer, it was only in middle age that he realised the countryside he had once yearned to escape was disappearing, prompting him to document it through his lens. He captured the “anguish of a home dismantled, yet impossible to return to the past.”

——Wang Hao (Foodthink Editor)

 《In Search of Green China》

Author: Ma Tianjie

Publisher: Polity

Published: February 2025

If you care about the cleanliness of the water you drink and the air you breathe every day, if you wonder why air quality across northern China has improved so markedly over the past decade, or why the government dithered for twenty years over whether to dam a wild, free-flowing river… then In Search of Green China belongs on your reading list.

When it comes to contemporary Chinese environmental history, this is the best book I have read. Through incisive writing, the author weaves together multiple threads of China’s thirty-year environmental governance journey, advancing them through a cast of representative figures. A photographer who resigned from a state post to document the pollution of the mother river; journalists and scholars who campaigned tirelessly for the Nu River; a vice minister of environmental protection who ambitiously pushed for a green GDP model despite repeated setbacks; ordinary citizens flooding into public hearings; scientists painstakingly tracing the sources of air pollution… Their fates cross and ignite one another, giving rise to the environmental governance tools we now know well: phasing out obsolete production capacity, environmental impact assessments, public participation, and ecological inspections. What we take for granted today was hard-won by the book’s protagonists in an era when “economic growth above all else” reigned supreme. Some achieved recognition and success as a result; others saw their careers derailed; and some have already passed away.

The book continually poses a fundamental question: what kind of development do we truly need? Economic progress and environmental protection are the two competing threads that run throughout the volume. Whether they align or diverge determines the success or failure of China’s environmental governance—a central insight of the work. Yet the fundamental importance of nature to human civilisation has still not been fully absorbed into our collective mindset. In this sense, regardless of how successful the construction of an ecological civilisation may appear on the surface, the quest for a green China remains ongoing.

— Kong Lingyu (Project Director at Foodthink; former environmental journalist)

Food Sovereignty and Ecofeminism

Author: Lionel Astouy (France)

China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Press

Published October 2020

Recently, women in Guinea-Bissau set fire to a facility operated by a Chinese company in protest against an environmentally damaging mining project. It was a desperate act to defend their land, homes, and the dignity of life and survival. Consequently, these African women from the margins have come into view in Chinese-language media, their angry “flames” drawing a brief but piercing gaze. This reminds me of the ‘Chipko movement’ that began in India in the 1970s—another instance of women who, having witnessed ecological degradation and livelihood loss firsthand, stepped forward to respond and act with courage.

In Food Sovereignty and Ecofeminism, a collection of dialogues, the author interviews Indian ecofeminist Vandana Shiva, who took part in the Chipko movement. Through these conversations, we are shown women’s experiences in Third World nations that challenge Western-centric narratives: women emerge not merely as caregivers or victims, but as vital defenders of ecological justice and food sovereignty. From sowing seeds to mounting resistance, from the kitchen to the frontlines, they act with resilience and wisdom on the ground, pushing back against predatory capital and ecological collapse. Ecofeminism provides an alternative lens through which to examine environmental crises. If these concerns resonate with you, I recommend opening this book to bear witness to their activism anew.

——Zhang Xiaoshu (Part-time colleague at Foodthink)

Insiders and Outsiders: The Social Foundations of Capital in the Countryside

Author: Xu Zongyang

Social Sciences Academic Press

Published in May 2022

Widely regarded as a hallmark of large-scale farming and agricultural modernisation, the movement of capital into rural areas is seen as a vital force for transforming ‘traditional’ agriculture and relatively ‘backward’ smallholder production. This book, however, stresses that capital entering the countryside does not automatically assemble the necessary productive elements; success depends entirely on how it interacts with local rural society. Grounded in rigorous fieldwork, the book presents a paradoxical explanation for the frequent failure of such ventures: to guarantee agricultural efficiency, enterprises must essentially operate in isolation from the local community. Yet this isolation inevitably provokes social friction, inflating operational costs and sometimes causing direct financial losses. To achieve both efficiency and long-term sustainability, businesses must therefore integrate with rural society by diminishing the divide between ‘outsiders’ and ‘insiders’. Shifting from an external, detached stance to one of genuine local embeddedness is the only way forward.

— Zhang Qian (Associate Researcher, Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Recommended Reading

Why We Eat (Too Much): The New Science of Appetite

Author: Andrew Jenkins (UK)

Translator: Wang Yinjun

Chongqing University Press

Published July 2023

The author is a physician who has spent years treating patients with severe obesity. In his view, obesity is a medical condition that cannot be conquered through sheer willpower. He describes calorie-counting diets as a “doomed battle”—our weight gain is driven by genetics and our food environment, and dieting actually disrupts appetite control, ultimately leading to the very weight gain we seek to avoid. The real solution lies in rebuilding a healthy dietary framework. By establishing a well-functioning negative feedback loop, we can prompt the brain to signal when to stop, thereby resetting our weight set point. His advice is straightforward: cook your own meals, engage in physical activities you enjoy, and savour good food. Yet, cultivating healthy eating habits is precisely the hardest step. This prompts a reflection that goes beyond the book’s pages: what exactly has made us unable to “waste” time on simply eating properly?

——Doudou (Foodthink author)

Recommended Reading

The Truth About Food

Author: Tsukasabe Abe (Japan)

Translator: Li Bo

Tianjin Educational Publishing House

Published in 2008

The author, Tsukasa Abe, was once a star employee at a prominent food additive firm, earning the title “God of Additives” for his uncanny skill in blending various additives to perfection.

Making a rare exception to take time off for his daughter’s third birthday dinner, he rushed home, only to burst into the room furious and shout at his wife, “Why did you buy this rubbish for the child?” He was referring to a plate of meatballs on the table.

That very plate of meatballs was Abe’s own masterpiece: crafted from discarded beef trimmings rejected by meat processing plants, he had skillfully deployed over thirty different additives to alter the texture, mask unwanted flavours, boost aroma, and enhance colour, successfully turning waste into a marketable product. These economical yet appetising meatballs had driven substantial sales for the additive company and piled up massive profits for the processing plant—enough to fund a brand-new headquarters. Yet, he had never imagined they would one day find their way onto his own dining table and into the mouth of his beloved daughter.

He knew better than anyone what exactly went into that plate of meatballs. Certainly, he could guarantee that each individual additive fell within safe regulatory limits, but when dozens of them work in concert, even the most robust human metabolism is bound to falter. What, then, does such a cocktail and cumulative dosage mean for a child whose body is still developing? No one felt the chill run down their spine more than Tsukasa Abe.

A parent’s love for their child often sparks a wider compassion. Abe resigned from his position and became a food safety educator. The opening pages of The Hidden Dangers in the Grocery Store detail the very beef balls that redirected his life.

——Kouz (Foodthink author)

Recommended Reading

Vanishing Foods: What Else Will We Lose Beyond Deliciousness?

Author: Dan Saladino (UK)

Translator: Gao Yubing

Wenhui Publishing House

Published: December 2023

Vanishing Foods documents the post-war hunger crisis and traces how capital and industrialisation have steadily homogenised our diets. Ordinarily, “endangered species” refers to plants or animals on the brink of extinction, but here the term draws our attention to the foods themselves—those already lost or on the verge of disappearing—along with the nutrition, genetic diversity, and cultural wisdom they carried. Take, for instance, the memangnarang, a citrus variety in India known as the “fruit of the ghosts.” Traditionally, it was placed upon the bodies of the deceased in rituals to ward off wandering spirits, yet today’s citrus offerings are overwhelmingly dominated by sweet tangerines and oranges. Similarly, wild rice is naturally red; however, market preferences for cooking gradually drove its domestication into white rice. Meanwhile, China’s unique “red-mouth” glutinous rice is being painstakingly preserved by a single farming family in Sichuan.

As our everyday diets fall increasingly under the sway of corporate systems, the ingredients available to us grow ever more uniform and restricted, regardless of place or season. With our food-based connection to the environment severed, and the climate worsening as biodiversity dwindles, we must familiarise ourselves with those overlooked, unnamed varieties pushed aside by mainstream supply chains—a way of pushing back against the system’s inherent fragility. In this light, another volume gains significance: Free Food: Wild Plants and How to Eat Them. The author shares her accumulated knowledge of wild foraging, guiding us to reclaim our intimate bond with the natural world through the simple act of seeking out our own sustenance, and teaching us how to gather sustainably and with reverence the rich, diverse provisions that supermarket shelves have left behind.

——Zhou Chen (Foodthink author, PhD candidate in Cultural Analysis at the University of Amsterdam)

Recommended Reading

Barbara McClintock: A Life

Author: Evelyn Fox Keller

Translator: Yang Xi

Yunnan People’s Publishing House

Published: July 2024

Barbara McClintock was a scientist who dedicated her life to studying maize. She viewed cells, organisms, and even ecosystems as an interconnected whole, arguing that science, when it neglects this holistic perspective, can only offer fragmented truths. Reflecting on the short-sightedness of modern science and technology, she warned that humanity suffers the consequences of addressing problems in isolation.

In an era of molecular biology that grows ever faster-paced and hyper-competitive, McClintock’s approach seems almost ‘luxurious’—she steadfastly practised slow observation, breathing in time with the life of the maize. She reminds us that genuine scientific discovery lies hidden within complexity, demanding careful observation and insight, yet competition and utilitarianism are steadily eroding this spirit. In her time, she foresaw a return of biology to the traditions of natural history, embracing once more the wholeness of life. Her story is not merely a reflection on scientific methods and paradigms, but a profound meditation on how to truly ‘listen to nature’.

——Guan Qi (Foodthink author, Head of the Eastern Office at the Farmer Seed Network)

Recommended Reading

Nomads of the Altai Mountains: Ecological Environment and Indigenous Knowledge

Author: Chen Xiangjun

Social Sciences Academic Press

Published September 2017

Based on extensive long-term fieldwork among the Kazakh communities in Fuyun County, Altai region, the author provides a detailed account of their nomadic livelihoods and ways of life. For someone encountering nomadic studies for the first time, this book fundamentally shifted my perspective: beyond the dominant narrative of agrarian civilisations, there exists a nomadic civilisation that is equally vital, rich, complete, and steeped in history.

In recent years, the concept of ‘nomadism’ has been romanticised and co-opted. Whether we look at ‘digital nomads’ or the television series *My Altay*, none of it reveals what authentic nomadic life actually entails. Either, obscured by mainstream ethnic discourses, we fail to approach pastoral civilisations and alternative ways of living with due respect; or, habitually, we view the development of distant, unfamiliar regions through an ‘economy-first’ lens. In this book, writing from a researcher’s perspective, the author systematically examines the relationship between nomadic knowledge systems and grassland ecology amid economic development. He emphasises that any local development must first honour the indigenous knowledge ecology and cultural traditions of the people who live there. To do otherwise risks the breakdown of established social structures and ecological imbalance.

— Wu Yang (Foodthink author)

Recommended Reading

The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies

Author: Marcel Mauss (France)

Translator: Ji Zhe

The Commercial Press

Published in 2016

I can’t quite recall when I first read this book, only that I felt compelled to revisit it, to mend the lasting damage wrought by an education that instilled the poison of evolutionary theory from childhood. What question does Mauss aim to answer in The Gift? “In primitive or archaic societies, what laws and rules of interest create an obligation to reciprocate upon receiving a gift? What force within a gift compels the recipient to return it?” The Māori answer lies in hau, a spiritual potency inherent in the gift itself. There is a similar potency within these pages, and I wish more readers could feel it.

——Chen Jingjing (Foodthink author, Head of Tusheng Studio)

Edited by: Kai Rui, Wang Hao, ZX

Poster design: Z X

Published by Foodthink