Analysis of agricultural product prices, supply chains, corporate behavior, and industry trends.
Not long after moving to Kunming, I found a restaurant that I felt I simply had to share with my friends: Tusheng Shiguan. Now in its fourteenth year, it has earned a modest reputation in the city. Tucked away in a creative park on a steep slope, the ingredients and…
Foodthink’s Perspective Since the 1950s, a “Fair Trade” movement has emerged globally. Cheap agricultural products from developing countries are constantly imported into developed nations, yet the vast majority of profits from commodity prices are seized by large capital interests within the trade chain, leaving farmers and labourers with only a…
This summer, North China has seen persistent rainfall, making farming feel like opening a blind box. Vegetable prices have shot up. While summer is typically the harvest season for fruits and vegetables, this year there was almost nothing to gather. The window for sowing in August was repeatedly pushed back,…
From saccharin and Agent Orange to Roundup and genetically modified seeds, its 115-year history shows how new agribusiness products created fresh problems while US regulation arrived only after harm.
Is a future where artificial intelligence replaces humans still far off? While some have already begun to fear for their livelihoods, the widespread adoption of algorithms in sectors such as food delivery and retail has already transformed the way ordinary people eat. But does new technology necessarily herald a progressive…
A Beijing discussion of the book Empire of Seeds, with Foodthink and the Farmers’ Seed Network, examines how seed standards, crop diversity and industrial agriculture shape the flavour of tomatoes, rice and wheat.
When we think of Monsanto, it is easy to associate the company with the health risks of genetically modified (GM) foods. However, “Empire of Seeds” by Bart J. Elmore, a US scholar of environmental history, shows that the influence of agricultural capital—epitomised by Monsanto—on the human food system is actually…
On 17 July, on the eve of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, several international organisations launched an initiative called “Kick Big Soda Out of Sport”, declaring war on the world’s largest soft drink producers, including Coca-Cola. The initiative claims that “Big Soda”—represented by industry giants like Coca-Cola and Pepsi—uses…
This episode of Food Talk focuses on the recent and widely discussed oil tanker incident, exploring the impact of food safety issues on our daily lives. Despite weathering numerous food safety scandals, consumers still seem powerless to change the environment they live in. This is even more apparent from the…
I. Devastating Yield Loss: The ‘Super Lean Year’ for Lychees Conghua District in Guangzhou is one of the primary lychee-producing regions in Guangdong. July is the peak harvest season, but some sights that were once commonplace are vanishing. Where branches used to bow under the weight of fruit, there are…
