Analysis of national and local agricultural policies, food policies, regulatory changes, and governance mechanisms.
Sichuan Pepper Trees Climbing Higher Back in 2004, while conducting field research in a village in Mao County, Sichuan, a local told me: “The pepper trees are climbing the mountain.” He meant that while pepper trees once thrived best in the river valleys, that was no longer the case; they…
As global warming intensifies, the Fall Armyworm has emerged as a new risk threatening global agricultural production. In the summer of 2019, during our fieldwork in Jixian (a pseudonym) on the North China Plain, the arrival of the Fall Armyworm put the entire county on a “wartime footing”. The Fall…
Starting an organic sourdough bakery was not a whim. In order to provide my family with quality carbs, I spent several years learning how to make sourdough using a natural wild yeast starter. Over those years, I often gave loaves to friends or brought them along to potluck dinners, where…
From 1 January 2025, platform workers in Singapore—including those in food delivery, courier services, and ride-hailing—will receive more comprehensive social protections covering work injuries, retirement, healthcare, and housing. They will also be able to form “Platform Work Associations” to strengthen their collective bargaining power. This is the result of the…
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.
As a foodie, I don’t eat meat, but I cannot live without beans—soybeans, mung beans, red beans, black beans, and chickpeas. Although I avoid buying from shops as much as possible and try to eat what I grow myself, the consumption of soy products at Evil Person Valley has always…
The Paris Olympics closed last week, but the dust has yet to settle on the doping controversies. The turmoil involved at least three incidents related to food safety: Ultimately, all three incidents were determined to be caused by the consumption of meat products “contaminated” with doping agents, rather than the…
Foodthink’s Perspective 15 August is National Ecology Day. When we speak of ecology and biodiversity, our thoughts immediately turn to wildlife or the Amazon rainforest; few consider the mutual influence between agriculture and ecosystems. In fact, over the last 70 years, the expansion and intensification of agriculture have increasingly degraded…
Foodthink says On 19 July 2024, James C. Scott, Professor of Political Science at Yale University, passed away. Immediately, a wave of commemorative articles began to re-examine his ideas on peasants and agriculture, everyday resistance, state and society, and anarchism. James Scott began by studying peasant struggles before turning to…
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…
