Organic production, sustainable farming methods, and agroecological practices.
A year ago, I decided to leave a non-profit organisation dedicated to sustainable agriculture to get onto the front lines of planting. I wanted to observe and reflect on the actual operations of ecological farming, experience rural life as a semi-farmer, and explore the possibilities of practising eco-agriculture. Consequently, I…
At the beginning of 2024, Foodthink launched the recruitment for the third phase of its “Ecological Agriculture Internship Programme”. Our aim is to connect young people aspiring to work in ecological agriculture with established ecological farms. This allows the former to master farming knowledge and techniques, while enabling seasoned farmers…
How can we tell whether fruit and vegetables are truly good? Should we rely solely on how symmetrical and attractive they look? If so, why is it that the ‘ugly’ produce—the misshapen fruits and veg found on the farm—disappears the moment it hits the shelves? The genes haven’t mutated; the…
At the start of 2024, farmer protests spread like wildfire across Europe, beginning in Germany. During the peak of the protests in mid-January, more than 30,000 farmers drove over 5,000 tractors from across Germany to demonstrate in Berlin. The immediate trigger was the German government’s announcement at the end of…
Foodthink’s Perspective Organic farming is far from a pastoral idyll, a fact for which the young people participating in Foodthink’s Lianhe Ecological Agriculture Internship Programme had already mentally prepared. However, out in the fields, through day-after-day of labour and observation, they gained a completely new understanding of farmers, ecological farming,…
In Sanyuanqiao, Beijing, there is an unusual community vegetable shop where all produce is delivered directly by local agroecological smallholders. Each piece of produce is tied to a specific grower’s name, and nothing is grown using pesticides or chemical fertilisers, adhering to strict production standards. This shop, called Ji Shi,…
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,…
