In May, I quit my job and left Beijing for a while, heading to the Zhiliangtian Ecological Farm in Alxa, Inner Mongolia, where I lived for two months. To my surprise, I spent every single day of my first month there drinking. Two-thirds of the beer in the farm’s coffee…
Imagine the vegetables on your plate didn’t come from a farmer with mud-stained hands working in a field, but were instead a technological marvel grown inside a vertical farming tower made of metal and plastic. How would you react? While in Berlin in 2018, I was captivated by the vertical…
Foodthink says In early August this year, Wuchang in Heilongjiang suffered rare torrential rains and floods, with approximately 40% of the local 2.5 million mu of farmland submerged. Two months after the disaster, livestreamers selling Wuchang rice appeared on e-commerce platforms. Set against a backdrop of lush, harvested fields, they…
“When the yellow croaker arrives, ten thousand taels of gold follow.” Wild large yellow croakers are traditional banquet staples and auspicious dishes in Zhejiang and Shanghai. Along the Chinese coastline, perhaps no fish has experienced a more turbulent fate than the large yellow croaker. In October this year, I witnessed…
Foodthink Says On Sunday, 3 December at 10:30, our editorial team, currently in Guangzhou for the Harvest Festival, will be hosting a discussion on pre-prepared meals and indigenous ingredients. One of our guests, Doudou, is a kitchen expert renowned for her home-made pre-prepared meals. She shared her journey and a…
Have you ever tried sourdough? Commercial sourdough often uses isolated, high-purity yeast, which speeds up production and ensures more consistent quality. However, these advantages come at the cost of the more distinctive flavours, textures, and mouthfeel provided by traditional mixed microbial cultures. In reality, yeast is omnipresent in our environment.…
Today, the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change opened in Dubai. While humanity continues to bicker over the distribution of responsibility for saving the planet—who should pay how much, and who must step outside their comfort zone to alter existing economic development…
Power generated above, crops grown below—one piece of land yielding two streams of income. “Agrivoltaics” claims to deliver multiple benefits, including clean electricity, efficient land use, agricultural modernisation, and rural development; it is often viewed as a win-win technological innovation to simultaneously address food, energy, and climate issues. According to…
In media reports over the last few years, it has been common for street vendors to be fined for selling produce such as chives and celery with pesticide residues exceeding legal limits, with penalties ranging from 5,000 to tens of thousands of yuan. The performance of high-end supermarkets and premium…
This episode of “Food Talk” is a crossover with our fellow creators “Da Xiao Dian Bo”, marking our first time collaborating. We join Gusi, the host of “Da Xiao Dian Bo”, and regular guest Nanshan to explore the creative and delicious world of fermented foods. As the founder of the…
