Thin from Thin Ink
@thinink.bsky.social
Food Systems nut who also happens to be a foodie. Writes Thin Ink, Lead Reporter for Lighthouse Reports, co-founder of Kite Tales Myanmar, founder of Myanmar Now, & former correspondent with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The latest tracker finds 1/3 of competition matters in agriculture have cross-border impacts but many countries never review them. That gap means higher prices and fewer opportunities for small producers and consumers.
If you care about improving our food systems, have a read: 👇
If you care about improving our food systems, have a read: 👇
January 16, 2026 at 4:41 PM
The latest tracker finds 1/3 of competition matters in agriculture have cross-border impacts but many countries never review them. That gap means higher prices and fewer opportunities for small producers and consumers.
If you care about improving our food systems, have a read: 👇
If you care about improving our food systems, have a read: 👇
For those living in food deserts or food swamps, “just make better choices” is a misunderstanding of reality.
What we need is the real Big Tent:
Room for anyone trying to do better, without flattening power or pretending we all start from the same place.
That’s the energy I’m bringing into 2026.
What we need is the real Big Tent:
Room for anyone trying to do better, without flattening power or pretending we all start from the same place.
That’s the energy I’m bringing into 2026.
January 9, 2026 at 4:35 PM
For those living in food deserts or food swamps, “just make better choices” is a misunderstanding of reality.
What we need is the real Big Tent:
Room for anyone trying to do better, without flattening power or pretending we all start from the same place.
That’s the energy I’m bringing into 2026.
What we need is the real Big Tent:
Room for anyone trying to do better, without flattening power or pretending we all start from the same place.
That’s the energy I’m bringing into 2026.
Here, I reflect on what it means to carry. almost all my entire life, a passport that invites scrutiny; that requires advanced visas for most destinations; and that turns routine immigration appointments into nerve-wrecking ordeals.
And what it means to suddenly find myself on the other side.
And what it means to suddenly find myself on the other side.
December 19, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Here, I reflect on what it means to carry. almost all my entire life, a passport that invites scrutiny; that requires advanced visas for most destinations; and that turns routine immigration appointments into nerve-wrecking ordeals.
And what it means to suddenly find myself on the other side.
And what it means to suddenly find myself on the other side.
Overarching theme from these reports: the lack of a coherent policy at EU level to tackle the challenges ahead of us. Despite proclamations about food security and farmers' livelihoods, EU's actions are benefitting neither.
www.monopolkommission.de/en/reports/s...
news.thin-ink.net/p/are-you-th...
www.monopolkommission.de/en/reports/s...
news.thin-ink.net/p/are-you-th...
December 12, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Overarching theme from these reports: the lack of a coherent policy at EU level to tackle the challenges ahead of us. Despite proclamations about food security and farmers' livelihoods, EU's actions are benefitting neither.
www.monopolkommission.de/en/reports/s...
news.thin-ink.net/p/are-you-th...
www.monopolkommission.de/en/reports/s...
news.thin-ink.net/p/are-you-th...
This week’s issue grows out of a presentation I gave at GIJC two weeks ago, where I tried to puncture persistent myths about hunger and malnutrition.
Also in this week's issue: fellowship positions opening at Lighthouse Reports. Come work with us for six months!
Also in this week's issue: fellowship positions opening at Lighthouse Reports. Come work with us for six months!
December 5, 2025 at 1:25 PM
This week’s issue grows out of a presentation I gave at GIJC two weeks ago, where I tried to puncture persistent myths about hunger and malnutrition.
Also in this week's issue: fellowship positions opening at Lighthouse Reports. Come work with us for six months!
Also in this week's issue: fellowship positions opening at Lighthouse Reports. Come work with us for six months!
...despite the critical role food plays in our daily existence - we all have to eat - we take it for granted to the point where investigating the forces that shape our food systems is considered ‘niche’.
🇧🇷 That + outcomes from Belém where food systems barely featured, led me to this week's issue.
🇧🇷 That + outcomes from Belém where food systems barely featured, led me to this week's issue.
November 28, 2025 at 11:04 AM
...despite the critical role food plays in our daily existence - we all have to eat - we take it for granted to the point where investigating the forces that shape our food systems is considered ‘niche’.
🇧🇷 That + outcomes from Belém where food systems barely featured, led me to this week's issue.
🇧🇷 That + outcomes from Belém where food systems barely featured, led me to this week's issue.
There, efforts are underway to regulate UPF production, marketing, & consumption despite strong industry resistance. These “offer crucial lessons for scaling action globally”.
The papers are worth devouring (pun intended) in full. But if you don't have time, I've done the leg work for you.
The papers are worth devouring (pun intended) in full. But if you don't have time, I've done the leg work for you.
November 21, 2025 at 11:08 AM
There, efforts are underway to regulate UPF production, marketing, & consumption despite strong industry resistance. These “offer crucial lessons for scaling action globally”.
The papers are worth devouring (pun intended) in full. But if you don't have time, I've done the leg work for you.
The papers are worth devouring (pun intended) in full. But if you don't have time, I've done the leg work for you.
So here's Who Owns The Farmland - Redux, where he explained the differences between land ownership and land use, why Europe's march towards consolidation of farmland is both inevitable and desirable, and how caring for the soil and land is more about practices and less about scale.
November 14, 2025 at 5:32 PM
So here's Who Owns The Farmland - Redux, where he explained the differences between land ownership and land use, why Europe's march towards consolidation of farmland is both inevitable and desirable, and how caring for the soil and land is more about practices and less about scale.
Coming from a country of small farms & now living in 2 where farms are getting larger, I find these global trends deeply personal & political.
So I break down 11 fascinating findings & share my two cents: are bigger, more intensive farms the food future we want or are we heading there by default?
So I break down 11 fascinating findings & share my two cents: are bigger, more intensive farms the food future we want or are we heading there by default?
November 7, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Coming from a country of small farms & now living in 2 where farms are getting larger, I find these global trends deeply personal & political.
So I break down 11 fascinating findings & share my two cents: are bigger, more intensive farms the food future we want or are we heading there by default?
So I break down 11 fascinating findings & share my two cents: are bigger, more intensive farms the food future we want or are we heading there by default?
It comes with striking new data and insights:
➡️ 1.7 billion people now live in areas where crop yields are at least 10% lower because of human-induced land degradation.
But what really caught my eye are the new figures on farm sizes and land distribution.
➡️ 1.7 billion people now live in areas where crop yields are at least 10% lower because of human-induced land degradation.
But what really caught my eye are the new figures on farm sizes and land distribution.
November 7, 2025 at 4:34 PM
It comes with striking new data and insights:
➡️ 1.7 billion people now live in areas where crop yields are at least 10% lower because of human-induced land degradation.
But what really caught my eye are the new figures on farm sizes and land distribution.
➡️ 1.7 billion people now live in areas where crop yields are at least 10% lower because of human-induced land degradation.
But what really caught my eye are the new figures on farm sizes and land distribution.
Thanks to Jose Luis Chicoma, who co-edited and also wrote in the report, for sharing the thought processes behind the project and what they are hoping to achieve.
Here's hoping we see more open discussions and actions on this topic.
news.thin-ink.net/p/how-to-eat...
Here's hoping we see more open discussions and actions on this topic.
news.thin-ink.net/p/how-to-eat...
October 31, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Thanks to Jose Luis Chicoma, who co-edited and also wrote in the report, for sharing the thought processes behind the project and what they are hoping to achieve.
Here's hoping we see more open discussions and actions on this topic.
news.thin-ink.net/p/how-to-eat...
Here's hoping we see more open discussions and actions on this topic.
news.thin-ink.net/p/how-to-eat...
For me, covering food systems is a constant struggle to balance bad with good: to walk that fine line between exposing injustices without becoming defeatist; between showing what we’re up against while reminding ourselves that change is possible. This issue is my attempt to show the possibilities.
October 24, 2025 at 3:36 PM
For me, covering food systems is a constant struggle to balance bad with good: to walk that fine line between exposing injustices without becoming defeatist; between showing what we’re up against while reminding ourselves that change is possible. This issue is my attempt to show the possibilities.
Next, I look at a global analysis on what it will take to help our smallholder farmers - the people who produce at least a third of our food - adapt to the changing climate, and why we should do it.
Huge thanks to @bhavanishankar.bsky.social & Esther Penunia for their insights & time.
Huge thanks to @bhavanishankar.bsky.social & Esther Penunia for their insights & time.
October 24, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Next, I look at a global analysis on what it will take to help our smallholder farmers - the people who produce at least a third of our food - adapt to the changing climate, and why we should do it.
Huge thanks to @bhavanishankar.bsky.social & Esther Penunia for their insights & time.
Huge thanks to @bhavanishankar.bsky.social & Esther Penunia for their insights & time.
First, I go to Bihar where a project is harnessing the advantages of local markets as community hubs and purveyors of fresh food while improving their infrastructure, food safety and management, climate readiness and sensitivity to the needs of women.
October 24, 2025 at 3:36 PM
First, I go to Bihar where a project is harnessing the advantages of local markets as community hubs and purveyors of fresh food while improving their infrastructure, food safety and management, climate readiness and sensitivity to the needs of women.
I'll be in Vienna next week to co-facilitate "Climate journalism in shrinking democratic spaces" workshop on Oct 24. It's an invite-only event, so if you're interested, please contact IPI.
Otherwise, drop me a line if you're in Vienna & want to chat about all things food systems (or Myanmar).
Otherwise, drop me a line if you're in Vienna & want to chat about all things food systems (or Myanmar).
October 15, 2025 at 3:58 PM
I'll be in Vienna next week to co-facilitate "Climate journalism in shrinking democratic spaces" workshop on Oct 24. It's an invite-only event, so if you're interested, please contact IPI.
Otherwise, drop me a line if you're in Vienna & want to chat about all things food systems (or Myanmar).
Otherwise, drop me a line if you're in Vienna & want to chat about all things food systems (or Myanmar).
... and a blatant lack of oversight to ensure good labour practices among its beneficiaries
Full credit to @eoghangilmartin.bsky.social, @simonguichard.bsky.social, @silvialazzaris.bsky.social, @meriemm.bsky.social, Pascale Mueller, @frnzskschwrz.bsky.social, Hélène Servel & @joseuf.bsky.social.
Full credit to @eoghangilmartin.bsky.social, @simonguichard.bsky.social, @silvialazzaris.bsky.social, @meriemm.bsky.social, Pascale Mueller, @frnzskschwrz.bsky.social, Hélène Servel & @joseuf.bsky.social.
October 10, 2025 at 4:45 PM
... and a blatant lack of oversight to ensure good labour practices among its beneficiaries
Full credit to @eoghangilmartin.bsky.social, @simonguichard.bsky.social, @silvialazzaris.bsky.social, @meriemm.bsky.social, Pascale Mueller, @frnzskschwrz.bsky.social, Hélène Servel & @joseuf.bsky.social.
Full credit to @eoghangilmartin.bsky.social, @simonguichard.bsky.social, @silvialazzaris.bsky.social, @meriemm.bsky.social, Pascale Mueller, @frnzskschwrz.bsky.social, Hélène Servel & @joseuf.bsky.social.
- The recommended diet, however, remains largely consistent with the 2019 version.
I've framed the key findings into 3 buckets that I now use when I talk about food systems challenges: how to make them healthier, greener, & fairer. It's all in the newsletter.
news.thin-ink.net/p/the-planet...
I've framed the key findings into 3 buckets that I now use when I talk about food systems challenges: how to make them healthier, greener, & fairer. It's all in the newsletter.
news.thin-ink.net/p/the-planet...
October 3, 2025 at 2:26 PM
- The recommended diet, however, remains largely consistent with the 2019 version.
I've framed the key findings into 3 buckets that I now use when I talk about food systems challenges: how to make them healthier, greener, & fairer. It's all in the newsletter.
news.thin-ink.net/p/the-planet...
I've framed the key findings into 3 buckets that I now use when I talk about food systems challenges: how to make them healthier, greener, & fairer. It's all in the newsletter.
news.thin-ink.net/p/the-planet...
And about whether, and how, they might be revived.
Our conversation reminded me of a phrase that has become a rallying cry in Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, which is waging its own uneven struggle against a brutal military: “They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.”
Our conversation reminded me of a phrase that has become a rallying cry in Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, which is waging its own uneven struggle against a brutal military: “They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.”
September 26, 2025 at 3:40 PM
And about whether, and how, they might be revived.
Our conversation reminded me of a phrase that has become a rallying cry in Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, which is waging its own uneven struggle against a brutal military: “They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.”
Our conversation reminded me of a phrase that has become a rallying cry in Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, which is waging its own uneven struggle against a brutal military: “They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.”
So I sat down with Jennifer to discuss how corporate power structures in agriculture were entrenched far earlier than most of us realise, why past critiques went unheeded, & what that means for breaking free of the “lock-ins” shaping our food systems today.
September 12, 2025 at 4:06 PM
So I sat down with Jennifer to discuss how corporate power structures in agriculture were entrenched far earlier than most of us realise, why past critiques went unheeded, & what that means for breaking free of the “lock-ins” shaping our food systems today.
And yes, I do have some quibbles, especially on the invisibility of political economy issues. I wrote about them in the newsletter. Besides, any report that cites both Charles Dickens and Silent Spring gets a bit of a pass in my book.
news.thin-ink.net/p/path-to-a-...
news.thin-ink.net/p/path-to-a-...
September 5, 2025 at 4:20 PM
And yes, I do have some quibbles, especially on the invisibility of political economy issues. I wrote about them in the newsletter. Besides, any report that cites both Charles Dickens and Silent Spring gets a bit of a pass in my book.
news.thin-ink.net/p/path-to-a-...
news.thin-ink.net/p/path-to-a-...
I was born & raised in a country where impunity was rampant & saw how that screw up societies & erode our humanity for each other. I see the same impunity in many places - Gaza, Sudan, U.S., etc. In all of them, indifference has fuelled it. Let’s not feed the impunity monster by looking away.
August 29, 2025 at 3:41 PM
I was born & raised in a country where impunity was rampant & saw how that screw up societies & erode our humanity for each other. I see the same impunity in many places - Gaza, Sudan, U.S., etc. In all of them, indifference has fuelled it. Let’s not feed the impunity monster by looking away.
But it isn't all doom and gloom. Examples: Brazil lifting >40 mln people out of hunger, winners of Equator Prize 2025, federal court ruling against USDA cutting funding to farmer & community orgs, show we *can* & *should* put out the fires & bring the arsonists in our homes to account.
August 22, 2025 at 11:28 AM
But it isn't all doom and gloom. Examples: Brazil lifting >40 mln people out of hunger, winners of Equator Prize 2025, federal court ruling against USDA cutting funding to farmer & community orgs, show we *can* & *should* put out the fires & bring the arsonists in our homes to account.
On a final note, I’m going on a two-week summer break. Back mid-August.
Don’t work too hard. Remember to take a break. And drink lots of water.
Don’t work too hard. Remember to take a break. And drink lots of water.
August 1, 2025 at 3:40 PM
On a final note, I’m going on a two-week summer break. Back mid-August.
Don’t work too hard. Remember to take a break. And drink lots of water.
Don’t work too hard. Remember to take a break. And drink lots of water.
I got the idea for this week’s issue after recent thoughtful conversations that showed me many people aren’t very familiar with the political economy of our food systems. Hence an explainer on the ABCDs. Special thanks to @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social for her work, which I heavily relied on.
July 25, 2025 at 3:32 PM
I got the idea for this week’s issue after recent thoughtful conversations that showed me many people aren’t very familiar with the political economy of our food systems. Hence an explainer on the ABCDs. Special thanks to @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social for her work, which I heavily relied on.
4. Also, quite a few of the challenges are self-inflicted. We got ourselves into this mess. We need to get ourselves out of it. Let's get on with that too.
5. There are also opportunities, especially when it comes to lifting our youth, which will ultimately benefit all of us. So...
5. There are also opportunities, especially when it comes to lifting our youth, which will ultimately benefit all of us. So...
July 11, 2025 at 4:05 PM
4. Also, quite a few of the challenges are self-inflicted. We got ourselves into this mess. We need to get ourselves out of it. Let's get on with that too.
5. There are also opportunities, especially when it comes to lifting our youth, which will ultimately benefit all of us. So...
5. There are also opportunities, especially when it comes to lifting our youth, which will ultimately benefit all of us. So...