Event Invitation | Stories from the Editorial Team: The Annual Party Must Not Stop

Attention, all departments —Foodthink’s “Takeover at Jishi 3.0” and Annual Meeting Special Programme, officially launches!

On Saturday 7 February, from 10:00 to 22:00, we will take over Jishi — the community shop run by the Beijing Organic Farmers Market in Sanyuanqiao. Jishi is not only where we source ingredients for our daily office meals; it is a community space connecting eco-farming friends with urban consumers.

Over the past year, we have written thousands of words at our desks about climate change, agroecology and food-and-farming justice, trying to illuminate the circumstances of smallholder farmers and those working across food and farming. But the more we write, the more clearly a problem emerges: we talk about food every day, yet do we truly understand the most immediate interface through which the public meets food — consumption itself?

A million theories, and action comes first. The best action is to sell vegetables — to take selling produce as a method for engaging deeply with the food and farming system. Only when we take in the fresh vegetables delivered by our farming friends, serve customers both in the shop and online, and handle each real order one by one, do trust, support and the quiet hardships behind agroecology stop being mere concepts in an article.

And so, during these twelve hours, Foodthink will transform from writers and researchers into grocery-shop staff, stepping out of the comfort zone of words and into the world of real labour: liaising with farmers, serving customers, sorting and packing produce, stocking shelves, running the till… oh, and the Foodthink staple — cooking our own staff meals. This is Foodthink’s annual gathering, and also a very special year-end report card submitted to you, our readers.

Whether you want to test our vegetable-selling skills or simply meet Foodthink in person and pick up a lovely bunch of greens on the side, this Saturday, 7 February, all our “spiritual shareholders” are welcome to visit Lixiang, Sanyuanqiao — see you “soon” (horse pun, for the Year of the Horse)!

To make sure we don’t drop the ball on the day, each of us has completed 48 hours of “undercover training” at Jishi over the past three months. Let’s introduce these eight vegetable-selling trainees — fresh faces, new energy — please be kind to them! —

The team for this takeover has changed a bit (some former colleagues have become parents, gone overseas to study, or headed off to forage in the mountains, while the new hires — still unmarried and childless — have graduated and come home), so we can’t say whether what lies ahead is comedy or tragedy.

The annual party must not stop! Beyond selling vegetables, we have prepared four events— join us in person or tune in via livestream.

Look at this — our editorial team is about to open up its year-end review to the public. Over the past year, Foodthink’s editorial team has kept a close watch on issues across food and farming: from smallholder farmers struggling under extreme weather to herders battered by globally imported meat; from food delivery riders covering the last mile of food for millions of urbanites to the hidden power relations behind what we eat… We do our best to tell the food-and-farming stories that most people never hear yet that touch every life. Because we believe this: to document is to keep documenting.

Stepping out from behind the scenes, we’d like to share the stories that never made it into the articles: Why does Foodthink choose to tell these stories? Which topics from the past year still weigh on our hearts? From the food and farming media workshop to our grant programmes, what new insights have we gained into how food and farming are covered in the media? But above all, this is also a “mutual reaching” story meeting. In 2026, what would you like to see on Foodthink? What voices should we amplify? What books should we read together? Whether you want to have a go at us, urge us to publish sooner, or share an exclusive tip, come along in person or drop into the livestream and “hold forth” as you please.

We’ve hosted plenty of sharing sessions at Jishi before, but this time we just want to talk about ourselves. We warmly invite our “spiritual shareholders” to join us in person; if you can’t make it, you can also reserve a livestream spot and be a “cloud supervisor” on the day.

Livestream

No registration needed — simply book ahead on WeChat Channels under Foodthink and join the livestream when the sharing session begins

14:00-15:30

 “Selling Produce as a Method”: A Sharing Session  

—— Seeing Another Possibility for Food Systems Through an Organic Grocery

The Jishi shop that Foodthink “occupies” for the day is the longest-standing store on this street in Sanyuanqiao. In food’s journey from farm to table, a physical grocery shop is often seen as nothing more than a “transit stop”. But this place is a little different—It is not merely a place of transaction, but a microcosm of an entire alternative food system. Here, farmers and consumers are not numbers in a system but real, tangible people who can see one another and speak face to face. At 2 p.m. on 7 February, we have invited three hands-on “food and farming observers”:

Wang Rui

Agriculture by formal training, has tilled soil and sold produce, oversees the market’s PGS farm visits, is currently the shift lead at Jishi, and is also a traditional Chinese medicine intern.

Xiao P

A statistics graduate who went from a university summer job to shop manager, working at the Beijing Organic Farmers Market for nearly ten years now — the crowd favourite among the market team and its farmers, and a new mum too.

Tianle

Convener of the Beijing Organic Farmers Market and founding editor of Foodthink. Studied international journalism and started out as a reporter, but left the profession twice — including several years of selling vegetables full-time — before making their way back to media as an editor.

Livestream

No registration needed — simply book ahead on WeChat Channels under Foodthink and join the livestream when the sharing session begins

16:00-17:00

  Pro Foodies Take You for a Shop Stroll  

—— Unconventional Livestream Shopping: Chinese New Year Provisions Special, One Day Only!

Although we’re “occupying” a brick-and-mortar shop, in response to the countless messages in our inbox urging us to “camp out for links”, Foodthink’s first-ever livestream shopping event is here!

As the year draws to a close, “what Chinese New Year provisions to buy” has become the biggest question on everyone’s mind. Over the course of the year, we’ve cooked more than 90 meals in our office, with 95% of our ingredients sourced from the Beijing Organic Farmers Market. When it comes to eating well here, we have every right to speak. Whether you’re treating your own table to something good or gifting friends, family, and superiors, a selection of organic produce from an eco-farm is the ultimate choice — wholesome in substance and impressive in presentation.

This time, two “veteran eaters” — Tianle and Kairui — will take you on a virtual browse through Jishi and share Foodthink’s personal picks for Chinese New Year provisions:

●Showstoppers for the Feast: What “grand dishes” are essential for New Year’s dinner? How should yak meat be prepared? ●The Perfect Gift: Which ingredient combinations are both wholesome and presentable, with a distinctive touch of taste?

●Hidden Gems: What other items look utterly unremarkable but are, in fact, showstoppers?

This is an “unconventional” livestream shopping event, and a “virtual shop visit” gathering. On the day of the livestream, readers in Beijing can enjoy direct Shansong delivery, while readers elsewhere can order via standard courier. Reserve the livestream on WeChat Channels under Foodthink and sort out your Chinese New Year provisions!

18:30-20:00

Whose Table, Whose Pasture: In-Person Film Screening & Lamb Broth Dinner

—— Watch a “Fake Meat” Film, Drink Real Lamb Broth

Dinner time — we’ve prepared a special banquet. We’ll be screening the 2024 Lianhe Creative Programme-supported documentary Whose Table, Whose Pasture. The film delves into the Qinghai Lake pastoral area, revealing how a flood of low-cost imported frozen meat undercuts local herders’ livelihoods within the global supply chain. In this carnival of cheap meat, who exactly gets to enjoy the bargain prices? And who bears the cost?

A documentary about the pastures deserves a bowl of properly made lamb broth to go with it. Once you’ve faced the true cost behind our food, we hope you’ll get to taste the genuine flavour of the grasslands right here at the event. Two lamb chops from the Ujimqin Ecological Pasture in Inner Mongolia, served with radish soaked in rich broth and silky rice noodles. This is more than just a dinner — it’s a vote cast with the tip of your tongue —In an age when real and fake are ever harder to tell apart, we still choose to pay for honest food.

Scan the QR code on the poster or click the link to fill in the form

A successful payment confirms your registration

*No livestream available for this event*

 Special Perks for Foodthink Readers 

It’s the annual party, so gifts are naturally a must:

🐴 Perk 1: Step In, Grab Your “Ration Voucher”

On 7 February, any reader who visits Jishi can collect an exclusive Jishi “ration voucher” and use it on the day for our spend-and-save promotions.

🐴 Perk 2: Enough of Your Boss’s Empty Promises — This New Year, Eat Actual Horse Biscuits!

Had your fill of the “big cakes” your boss keeps painting at work this year-end? Come grab a biscuit made by hand by a fellow member instead!

We’ve prepared limited-edition Year-of-the-Horse pony biscuits 🐴🍪 to wish you a new year at full gallop!

🐴 Perk 3: Discounts at Our Mood! Surprises with Every Purchase!

Well, since we’re occupying Jishi, we get to set the prices too. On the day, we’ll roll out surprise discounts and value bundles at our whim — some markdowns, some freebies — so you can stock up on Chinese New Year provisions to your heart’s content!

Now, we hand the mic over to our wonderful readers! Leave a comment and tell us:

❶ What would you most like to ask the editorial team or the farmers-market folks? Or what specific food topic or phenomenon would you love them to dig into? ❷ What good stuff would you like Foodthink to recommend? (💡 Tip: Have a scroll through our WeChat Moments — the details hide in our weekly office lunches!)

❸ What little details can you spot in the poster?

We’ll pick five heartfelt comments at random and send the winners:

📖 A curated Foodthink Chinese New Year provisions set

or

🎟️ One Jishi spend-and-save shopping voucher

📢 One last thing — a very important preview!

Felt like Saturday wasn’t enough?

Hold on — the best is yet to come! Once our gang of vegetable-selling trainees retreats, Jishi’s rightful owners will make a swaggering comeback.

Sunday 8 February, 10:00–14:00— still at Sanyuanqiao, still at Jishi —“Eating as a Method” ✖️ Beijing Organic Farmers Market Chinese New Year Provisions Festival

More eco-friendly provisions, tastings, face-to-face chats with farmers, New Year traditions and more… all at the Provisions Festival!

*Footnote: AI was used for parts of the trainee poster artwork; inspiration: Stardew Valley

Copy by Li Ye

Edited by Tianle

Poster: ZX, Li Ye