Escape the Desk: Can a Writer Sell Good Vegetables?

When three people who have spent long hours hunched over computers decide to sell vegetables at a community organic grocery in Sanyuanqiao, Beijing—can they actually pull it off?

If you, like so many, face endless screens, data, and meetings every day, have you ever found yourself wondering: what is the point of all this? In this age of acceleration, countless streams of information wash over our eyes and fingertips, yet so many of us have lost any tangible sense of our work and our lives. Sometimes, for a fleeting moment, a fierce impulse surges: I want to do something concrete, something you can see and touch—a proper “physical job”.

In this episode of Food Talk, we actually went and did some “manual labour”. Hosted by Foodthink founding editor Tianle, this episode features veteran media figure and former assistant editor-in-chief at Caixin, Huang Chen (Cousin), along with two younger Foodthink colleagues, Yuyang and Li Ye.

When they step away from their cramped desks and walk into the real labour of selling vegetables, bustling around counters and produce stalls—what do they encounter, what do they observe, what thoughts arise? Our three guests share their genuine experiences of working at the grocery:

From the grand narratives of data journalism to which sweet potato tastes better; from covering algorithm-driven sorting systems to personally finding yourself having to negotiate with a customer on the spot about “whether to swap to a different variety of tomatoes”. In the physical labour of stocking shelves, sorting produce, and photographing new arrivals, they felt a long-lost sense of grounding and that very human “aliveness”.

It turns out that selling vegetables is not just a job—it is also a way of reconnecting with the world. In this “cross-boundary” physical labour, they rediscovered wuta cai (a flat-leafed Chinese mustard green), learned the trick to steaming wo-tou, and in this atomised city, saw how food reknits consumers, organic farmers, and shop staff together in the physical space of the grocery, building a long-missing, concrete social support system.

In short, this is not an episode about “changing careers”—it is a candid conversation about how we work, about social structures, and about bodily experience. It is about how we step away from the screen and, through our hands, make peace with the real world again.

If you have ever thought about stepping away from the siege of electronic screens for a while, this episode might be for you.

Discussion: Would you try a physical job in search of that grounded, tangible feeling? Share your story in the comments.

This Episode’s Guests

Huang Chen “Cousin,” former assistant editor-in-chief at Caixin, founder of the “Data, Hello” workshop. Currently a long-term volunteer at Jishi, the community organic grocery in Sanyuanqiao—a vegetable seller who straddles the worlds of grand data and concrete living.

Yuyang

Foodthink editor, recently busy pickling cabbage.

Li Ye

Foodthink’s newest project officer and Food Talk’s new host.

This Episode’s Host

Tianle

Foodthink founding editor, convener of the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market.

A special preview: curious about the name badges that Tianle, Li Ye, and Yuyang wear? Time to reveal the truth—they are members of Foodthink’s “vegetable-selling dream team”!

On Saturday, 7 February, 10:00–22:00, we will take over the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market community store in Sanyuanqiao and occupy Jishi! To make sure we don’t drop the ball on the day, several colleagues have spent the past three months as trainees completing 48 hours of “stealth training” at Jishi.

During our 12-hour takeover of Jishi, eight Foodthink colleagues will transform from wordsmiths into grocery staff, stepping out of the comfort zone of writing and into the real field of physical labour: liaising with farming partners, serving customers, sorting and packing, restocking shelves, handling the till and printing receipts… Oh, and our house favourite—preparing our own staff meals. This is Foodthink’s annual gathering, and also a special year-end answer sheet we are submitting to you, our readers.

Whether you want to put our vegetable-selling skills to the test, or just want to meet Foodthink in person and pick up some good produce, on Saturday, 7 February, we invite all our “spiritual shareholders” to visit Sanyuanqiao · Lixiang—see you “Horse”-ly soon!

See more of the exciting events from the day we took over Jishi.

Jishi, tucked into Fenghuanghui in Sanyuanqiao, Beijing, is a small but design-minded community grocery. Photo by Li Ye

Fruits and vegetables from our organic farming partners may not look perfect on the outside, but they are packed with expertise and care. Photos by Li Ye and Huang Chen

Some of the shop’s quirky little treasures: a jar of Sichuan pickles labelled “Not for sale” and a potted enoki mushroom that has simply dried out in its own time. Photo by Li Ye

What do you actually eat when working at a community grocery where you cook for yourself? Left: Cousin’s day of cooking on shift; Right: pizza baked from toast by a colleague at Jishi. Photos by Huang Chen and Li Ye

Jishi is more than a grocery—it is also a smallholders’ dining table. Photo by Li Ye

…and a window onto ecological agriculture and sustainability. Photo by Li Ye

At Jishi, you can get to know your food. Even if you are not here to buy vegetables, you are welcome to wander through this public space and stay a while. Photo by Li Ye

Timeline

02:20 Media people from a “test-taker” background—why go sell vegetables? 06:32 What exactly does a grocery shop worker do?

10:25 Online and offline consumption observations: do we still need physical grocery stores?

17:33 Trapped in the system: e-commerce pickers and whether algorithms optimise or alienate labour

22:22 Brain hygiene: this generation of young people is starting to “fall in love with manual labour”

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

29:21 In a busy, atomised society, sometimes we need to sacrifice a little efficiency for genuine connection

35:41 Does a support system exist in the workplace?

40:10 Reflecting on utopia: what we were really doing was the “manual labour” of our dreams

46:50 Beijing in 2015: an economic upswing you needed to escape from

49:40 The Trisolarans can’t understand humanity’s “gap between knowing and doing”

53:43 Beyond grand narratives there are specific people—we are not just 5.0% GDP growth

56:36 What trivia and practical tips can you pick up from selling vegetables? What produce suits a northern winter?

01:01:06 Back to the concrete, back to human warmth, back to humanity

This Episode’s Guests

This Episode’s Host

Timeline

Published by Foodthink