Having spent too long away from the little village where every household practised fermentation, and drifting for far too long through a city life full of uncertainty, I lost a piece of my own vitality. It is only recently that I came to realise this. For many years, fermentation was…
Foodthink Says This is the third field report from Foodthink’s visits to small-scale fishing communities in southern Thailand. The first two pieces explored how fishers joined forces to oust commercial trawlers, form a national alliance, and actively engage in legislative and policy advocacy, and how ‘community conservation areas’ empower fishers…
A Note from Foodthink Why would a girl from the north, who had never even seen sugarcane, head south to grow it? Why would a short-video vlogger be mocked by farmers? Why would a PhD candidate call herself a primary school student? Why would a tea research specialist enjoy chatting…
Foodthink says This is the second dispatch from our visit to fishing communities in southern Thailand. In January this year, Foodthink joined Blue Climate Partners to visit fishing villages in the south of Thailand, exploring how small-scale fishers protect marine resources. Across three mangrove communities along the Andaman Sea coast,…
Last year, standing by a field ridge in the mountains of Yunnan, I saw rice for the first time growing straight from level soil without any flooding or irrigation ditches. To many, rice is inextricably linked to flooded paddies. Yet it can just as well be cultivated on dry, sloping…
Foodthink Commentary On 17 January 2026, the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) – comprising countries such as Argentina and Brazil – and the EU formally signed a free trade agreement in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay. Prior to this, the deal had already sparked widespread protests from farmers across Europe. They…
Every year on 315 Consumer Rights Day, food safety takes centre stage. Yet, the impact of “digital mealtime content”—this virtual sustenance—on dietary health has not yet garnered sufficient attention. Short-form videos, TV dramas, variety shows, podcasts… content dubbed “digital mealtime content” has quietly become a daily staple for many. Why…
A Note from Foodthink In January this year, Foodthink travelled with Blue Climate Partners to fishing villages in Southern Thailand to see how small-scale fishers and grassroots NGOs are joining forces to combat overfishing. By establishing “community conservation areas”, they are striving for a win-win between ecological preservation and local…
In 1972, British scientist John Yudkin published a book titled *Pure, White and Deadly*. The protagonist of that book was sugar: pure, white sugar. The protagonist of this short piece is also sugar: sweet sugar. In this context, “sugar” refers to table sugar, confectionery, and added sugars in food. On…
Weeds are not the other; weeds are you and me. — Michael Pollan, *Weeds, Roses, and Groundhogs: How the Garden Educated Me* Over the past year, I have travelled with my colleagues from Foodthink to more than ten ecological farms across the country, from the coastal cities of the Yangtze…
