I. Airborne Plastic Blight With spring ploughing imminent, Li Jidong, a farmer from Nuomizhuang Village in Luanzhou, Hebei, found himself unable to plough his land. Across his 70 mu of farmland, fragmented pieces of plastic mulch of various sizes, blown in from a nearby farm, were scattered everywhere. They covered…
The world’s table begins with China’s small pulses 10 February 2025 marks the seventh World Pulses Day. This year’s theme is “Pulses: Bringing Diversity to Agrifood Systems”. Grow pulses, eat pulses; diverse farming, healthy living. Soya beans, edamame, and black beans are common staples on the dining table, yet all…
Foodthink Perspectives Slowly but surely, the eating habits of the Chinese people—long a source of national pride—are being profoundly reshaped by digital technologies driven by the internet, algorithms, and artificial intelligence. The most apparent change is in how people consume food. According to media reports, 275 million people rely on…
Foodthink Says How many people can commit to a single endeavour for a decade? The Nanning Urban Farmers’ Market is one such example. Since its inception in 2013, it has now entered its eleventh year. Held every two months, each market attracts dozens of vendors selling ecological produce from Guangxi—the…
Foodthink’s Take “Fungi are ubiquitous, yet easily overlooked.” These life forms, distinct from plants and animals, exist as a mysterious and powerful yet often ignored presence, offering clues on the path towards human exploration and coexistence with nature. How do fungi and plants prosper together? As the link between plants…
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…
The suffering of this person shocks me, for it was unnecessary. — Bertolt Brecht The film *Upstream*, which focuses on food delivery riders, has been showing for over a week. Few films have sparked such widespread and intense debate prior to their release. Within these debates, two starkly opposing viewpoints…
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…
Recently, irregularities in the transport of edible oils by tanker trucks have once again sparked public concern over food safety. From production to processing, and from transport to sale, every link in the chain affects the safety of our food. The workers, managers, regulators, researchers, and capital interests behind each…
I.“You have been penalised and demoted to shop assistant” “You have been penalised and demoted to store clerk.” A few months ago, Ms L, a store manager at a Convenience Bee branch in Beijing, suddenly received this message on her handheld terminal. In her daily routine, she had to keep…
