In 2024, we received a wealth of books spanning food, agriculture, ecology, sustainability, and culture, each capturing the complexities and possibilities of our world in its own way.
From hurried workers to contemporary grassland pastoralists, from the food politics behind foie gras to the diverse efforts safeguarding seeds, from the industrial pitfalls of ultra-processed foods to the lessons fungal networks teach about natural symbiosis… these books lead us from uncritical acceptance to inquiry, from a narrow vantage point to a boundless world, inviting us to witness the contradictions and hopes woven through the relationships between people, land, food, and nature.
We hope these books will bring reflection, inspiration, or fresh imagination on what is possible in the coming year, helping us reconnect with nature and ourselves through the grounded experience of reading.
Digital Dash: Delivery Riders and the Labour Order of the Platform Economy
Author: Chen Long
Shanghai People’s Publishing House | Century Wenjing
Published November 2024
Transitional Labour: Delivery Riders in the Platform Economy
Author: Sun Ping
East China Normal University Press | Mint Experiment
Published July 2024
Delivery dramas, public incidents, academic studies, and even casual gossip collectively charted the territory of food delivery debates in 2024. Viewed from a grassroots perspective, these two books present a detailed picture of the riders’ daily lives. They offer readers a chance to grasp this landscape in full, while also archiving a vital record for the future.
Riders navigating neighbourhood streets are, in themselves, the most visible face of the platform economy. First, public focus on these ordinary individuals has resonated deeply with ordinary workers, fostering widespread empathy for riders. Second, their sheer ubiquity makes them the most accessible natural field for journalists and researchers alike. Since 2020, therefore, much of the public discourse around food delivery has steadily gravitated towards the riders themselves.
At present, however, there is much thunder but little rain; meaningful change remains elusive. Beyond simply ‘speaking up for grassroots workers,’ we must also explore how to examine the platform economy through a wider range of perspectives and drive more substantive public debate. While we rightly honour the authors who refuse to stay silent, the current landscape of public discourse suggests there is still much more that could be done.
— Wang Hao (Foodthink Editor)
Foie Gras: The Food Politics of a Divisive Taste
Author: Michaela DeSoucey (USA)
Translator: Zhang Santian
Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press | “Food Talk” Translation Series
Published August 2024
This book argues that the history of foie gras is far from straightforward. It is more than just a culinary product; it carries profound cultural, political, and ethical weight. De Souza notes that while foie gras is revered as a quintessential French delicacy, it is simultaneously subjected to fierce criticism and even sabotage by animal welfare campaigners due to the controversial force-feeding practices involved. Drawing on cultural sociology and organisational theory, she examines how foie gras has become a touchstone for moral and political debate, and explores the varied outcomes these disputes have produced. Treating foie gras as a “cultural object,” De Souza offers a comprehensive exploration that spans its historical origins, its modern industrial production, and its contentious ethical standing. Her incisive analysis of foie gras’s historical and cultural significance reveals the intricate layers of the dish across different cultural and political landscapes. By dissecting the political and cultural conflicts that lie beneath our plates, she poses a profoundly thought-provoking question: do we truly choose what we eat, or is that choice an illusion?
— Zhu Yan (Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Sociology, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences)
The Seed Revolution
Authors: Marco Boscolo (Italy), Elisabetta Tola (Italy)
Translator: Ding Yingying
Oriental Press | The New Agriculture Series
Published January 2024
Through the authors’ fieldwork, this book presents global examples of farmers practising the in-situ, living conservation of traditional seeds. It explores how conserving these seeds safeguards cultural and ecological diversity, offering responses to the challenges posed by industrialised agriculture in areas such as food security, rural development, and biodiversity. Furthermore, it outlines recent advances in applying the concept of the ‘population’ to breeding innovation. This serves as a reminder that Darwin’s theory of natural selection applies not only to natural biodiversity, but can also drive the sustainable transformation of seed and agricultural systems. Such a perspective offers a fresh direction for ecological conservation and agricultural transition.
— Guan Qi (Head of the Eastern Office, Farmer Seed Network)
Modern Times in the Grassland
Author: Shu Ni
Intellectual Property Publishing House
Published August 2024
The dual contract reform for pastures and livestock, introduced in the 1980s, profoundly transformed the pastoral landscape of Inner Mongolia. Individual wire fences, mechanised wells, and livestock shelters have replaced the communal pastures of old. If *The Wisdom of Nomadism* encapsulates a dwindling reservoir of traditional knowledge, this new book by Shu Ni seeks to reveal a lesser-known dimension of the grasslands. Just as the pastures adapt to new property regimes and management systems, nomadic culture is forging its own path to modernity in the face of external pressures. From herding horses with off-road vehicles to cooperatives building their own cold-storage facilities and running educational camps for visitors—herders are doing more than simply enduring passive modernisation. They are learning to harness the market, striving to secure the rightful value and recognition for their traditional culture. This is surely an essential lesson for the new generation of herders.
— Xiaozhu (Foodthink Editor)
Monsanto’s GM Wars: Three Lawsuits Over Genetically Modified Seeds Involving Monsanto, Brazil, and India
Author: Karine E. Peschard (US)
Translator: Li Tianjiao
China Science and Technology Publishing House | Zhongke Shuyuan
Published: June 2024
“He who controls the seeds controls the world.” Since the advent of genetically modified crops, bolstered by intellectual property and breeders’ rights, Monsanto has rapidly extended its reach into the Global South. By analysing three lawsuits filed by Brazil and India against Monsanto over royalties for GM crops, Pechard lays bare the company’s ruses and overt strategies, charting the evolution of seed legislation in both nations as various interests clash. Although the outcomes fell short of expectations, legal activism undeniably fostered coalition-building and serves as a reminder that a system offering stronger protections for smallholders’ seed rights is not merely possible, but essential.
——Zeen (Foodthink Editor)
The Ultra-Processed People: Why Some Foods Are Hard to Stop Eating
Author: Chris van Tulleken (UK)
Translator: Xinmei
China Science and Technology Press | Zhongke Shuyuan
Published August 2024
This book clearly elucidates the fundamental nature of food from the late 1930s onwards. It notes that in the UK, around 75% of people derive 60% of their daily calories from heavily altered ultra-processed foods (UPFs). This dietary pattern is not only widespread in the UK but mirrors trends across other nations. Drawing on extensive research, the book demonstrates a strong correlation between excessive consumption of UPFs and a range of health issues. It urges us to make every effort to choose natural, whole foods, support a diverse range of locally produced food, scrutinise the supply chains behind what we eat, and understand the profound impact of industrialised agriculture on both the environment and our health.
— Li Hui (Founder of Xihuali Sustainable Living Space)
Rhythms of the Naxi Homeland: A Photographic Chronicle of the Naxi and Mosuo People
Mosuo Sages: Dongba Oral Histories
Guardians of Dongba: A Cultural Ethnography of the Mosuo People
Authors: Song Yiqing / Zhuang Yufen / Sun Qingzhong / Yangduoji Zhashi / Shenggen
In the hidden Mosuo lands where Sichuan and Yunnan meet, over 400 Dongba rituals are still held each year. Dongba priests and Xiawu healers move through the villages, safeguarding the local land and waters. Living in harmony with the natural world and treating all creation with care, the community enjoys a mountain life marked by unity, peace, and quiet contentment. This expansive Dongba culture stands as a rich embodiment of local customs, while its ancient pictographic script remains the world’s only surviving writing system of its kind. The Dongba Culture Trilogy brings together a decade of exploration and three years of photography by veteran scholars and renowned documentary photographers in the Naxi valley. Through cultural ethnography, visual archives, and oral histories, it serves as an urgent record of the folk traditions and cultural memory preserved in ancient Naxi and Mosuo villages.
— Han Xiao (Editor, CITIC Press)
The Mycelial Web
Author: Merlin Sheldrake (UK)
Translator: Luo Dinghao
Beijing United Publishing Co. | Houtan Science
Published: November 2024
When it comes to fungi, most people think of mushrooms, but fungi are far more than just a meal on a plate. “Fungi are everywhere, yet easily overlooked.” From microscopic moulds and yeasts to the vast underground networks of honey fungi, fungi nourish or kill plants and animals, thrive in radiation, space, or within insects, break down rock, produce medicines, induce hallucinations, maintain the relationship between plants and soil, and shape the Earth’s atmosphere. These life forms, distinct from plants and animals, offer us quiet guidance in our quest to coexist with nature, existing in a mysterious, powerful, yet often overlooked capacity. By exploring fungi, this book teaches us to dismantle our preconceptions about evolution, ecology, individuality, intelligence, and life itself. The more we understand fungi, the deeper our comprehension of the planet beneath our feet—and of ourselves—becomes.
——ZX (Foodthink)
The Seed Empire: The History of Monsanto and the Future of Human Food
Author: Bartholomew J. Elmore (US)
Translator: Ze Xuan Huang
SDX Joint Publishing | Yali
Published: April 2024
This is a conscientious work by an environmental historian. Written in an accessible style, it situates Monsanto within the broader narrative of capitalist industrial history to trace the rise of a multinational giant. It helps us understand how science and technology have infiltrated daily life and the resulting challenges they pose to our living environment. Stepping clear of conspiracy theories and moving beyond mere archival research, the author crafts not only a corporate and environmental history but also vividly portrays the lives of those connected to this powerhouse. Though Monsanto is no more, the technology endures. How we perceive the social nature of technology is among the many pressing questions this book raises—particularly when it slips beyond public control, becoming an elusive force wielded solely by specialists.
——Xu Zhun (Professor, Lingnan College, Sun Yat-sen University)
Beyond these titles, 2024 has also brought us a wealth of new publications examining food, agriculture, and related fields from diverse perspectives and formats. Here, we extend our sincere gratitude to the authors, publishers, and readers who have supported and cared for the food and agriculture sector over the past year. Through your documentation, reflection, and critique; your attention, curation, and discernment; and your curiosity, understanding, and questioning, you have helped channel fresh knowledge back to the land and nature we all depend upon.
– New Year’s Comment Giveaway –
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Lastly, what food, agriculture, or sustainability books have you read this year that you would highly recommend?
Please share your recommendations in the comments below.
We will select entries based on both the number of likes and the quality of your comments,
to award five lucky readers with
a free copy of either *The Seed Empire* or *The Fermentation Bible*!
We look forward to discovering more valuable titles through your suggestions.
No restrictions on language or publication date (titles published in 2024 will be prioritised).
If you would like to join our reading group,
please scan the personal WeChat QR code at the end of this post.
Add “Reading Group” as your remark,
and join our food & agriculture reading community.
Planned by: Foodthink
Edited by: ZX
