Foodthink’s Lianhe Initiative is inviting young people and established farms to apply for phase three of its ecological farm internship programme across China, with applications closing on 6 March 2024.
Over a year ago, the entire Foodthink team “usurped the nest“, taking over the community vegetable shop of the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market. In a single day, we took full responsibility for all shop operations and achieved such great sales results that we won our “wager”. The first “Occupy the…
Long-time readers of Foodthink will certainly be familiar with the name “Grandma Kouzi”. Since 2021, this woman in her sixties has chosen to move to “Villain’s Valley” in Fujian. There, she built her own home and worked the land herself, carving a sanctuary out of the wilderness to explore a…
“Save our rice!” “IRRI, get out!” In October 2023, these angry chants echoed across multiple farmers’ protests in the Philippines. The protests targeted the 6th International Rice Congress, hosted by the International Rice Research Institute (hereafter IRRI). Against the backdrop of climate change and the push for agricultural emission reductions,…
Foodthink Author Kouzi Farmer trekker, village brewing master. Full-time foodie, part-time farmer, amateur writer. Readers familiar with me may have already noticed: I don’t stir-fry. Indeed, Villain’s Valley doesn’t even have a wok. Of course, my one-square-metre kitchen is equipped with a full set of appliances—pots, steamers,…
In 2016, I had a few failed attempts at grocery shopping at Sanyuanli Market. I only returned recently to visit an exhibition and found that the market had long since found its true calling: as an art installation. Returning after seven years, Sanyuanli has become polished and glamorous. To promote…
Foodthink’s Perspective In October this year, Foodthink partnered with dozens of farmers’ markets, eco-farms, fermentation artisans, restaurants, publishing houses, and non-profit organisations to launch the ‘Ferment Awakening Festival’. In November, we hosted four book club sessions centred on Sandor Katz’s *The Art of Fermentation*. Our guest for the first session…
In the first part of ‘Notes on an Internship in a Desert Oasis’, I tried to lean into my professional instincts as a business journalist to explore the operational struggles of an ecological farm. But in truth, during my two months interning at the Zhiliangtian Farm in Alashan, my daily…
I. The Beginning In 2018, in a scattered village in Hong Kong’s New Territories that was facing imminent demolition, I baked my first sourdough loaf using a jar of fermented starter I’d just received from a friend. Looking back, it hadn’t really risen properly; it could hardly be called bread.…
The Forest and Farm Facility and IIED report that 1,800-plus smallholders in 13 countries spend, on average, 5,866 yuan out of pocket a year for climate adaptation. Most practices benefit ecosystems, yet international adaptation funding remains far below need. Can Dubai’s COP28 take them seriously?