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.
Pinned
Borders, Belonging, & Finally Travelling Without Fear
“Better weight than wisdom a traveller cannot carry”
news.thin-ink.net
2025 feels like both the longest & shortest year, for reasons personal, professional & related to the general state-of-world-ness.
Thin Ink will be taking a 2-week break so this is 2025's final issue. And as in previous years, it takes on a more personal hue.
news.thin-ink.net/p/borders-be...
Thin Ink will be taking a 2-week break so this is 2025's final issue. And as in previous years, it takes on a more personal hue.
news.thin-ink.net/p/borders-be...
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
"Behind us, soldiers and police fired their guns, chasing us... "This is it," I thought."
This vivid diary from a Shan journalist recounts a day in the Summer 2021 when a protest turned deadly and they narrowly escaped the military.
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
kite-tales.org/en/article/b...
This vivid diary from a Shan journalist recounts a day in the Summer 2021 when a protest turned deadly and they narrowly escaped the military.
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
kite-tales.org/en/article/b...
Bullets at My Heels
kite-tales.org
January 14, 2026 at 10:18 AM
"Behind us, soldiers and police fired their guns, chasing us... "This is it," I thought."
This vivid diary from a Shan journalist recounts a day in the Summer 2021 when a protest turned deadly and they narrowly escaped the military.
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
kite-tales.org/en/article/b...
This vivid diary from a Shan journalist recounts a day in the Summer 2021 when a protest turned deadly and they narrowly escaped the military.
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
kite-tales.org/en/article/b...
Thin Ink's 1st issue of 2026: I’m reclaiming the word foodie & rejecting purism while I’m at it.
Loving food has brought me joy my whole life. But in recent years it’s also come with guilt: Not vegetarian enough. Not climate-perfect enough. Not “doing it right.”
news.thin-ink.net/p/the-real-b...
Loving food has brought me joy my whole life. But in recent years it’s also come with guilt: Not vegetarian enough. Not climate-perfect enough. Not “doing it right.”
news.thin-ink.net/p/the-real-b...
The Real Big Tent
Food, climate, and why rejecting purism ≠ rejecting responsibility
news.thin-ink.net
January 9, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Thin Ink's 1st issue of 2026: I’m reclaiming the word foodie & rejecting purism while I’m at it.
Loving food has brought me joy my whole life. But in recent years it’s also come with guilt: Not vegetarian enough. Not climate-perfect enough. Not “doing it right.”
news.thin-ink.net/p/the-real-b...
Loving food has brought me joy my whole life. But in recent years it’s also come with guilt: Not vegetarian enough. Not climate-perfect enough. Not “doing it right.”
news.thin-ink.net/p/the-real-b...
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
Jan 4 is Myanmar's Independence Day & the military junta may be trumpeting its recent sham elections as progress, but make no mistake, 22,000+ political prisoners continue to languish in jail. A reporter who spent months in the notorious Insein jail gives an insight.
kite-tales.org/en/article/d...
kite-tales.org/en/article/d...
The Dreams of A Political Prisoner
kite-tales.org
January 3, 2026 at 10:26 PM
Jan 4 is Myanmar's Independence Day & the military junta may be trumpeting its recent sham elections as progress, but make no mistake, 22,000+ political prisoners continue to languish in jail. A reporter who spent months in the notorious Insein jail gives an insight.
kite-tales.org/en/article/d...
kite-tales.org/en/article/d...
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
Absolutely shocking.
A reminder that no international media has been allowed into Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. Now doctors and aid workers are being kept out too…
A reminder that no international media has been allowed into Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. Now doctors and aid workers are being kept out too…
Dozens of humanitarian organisations, including Doctors Without Borders, are banned by Israel. Israel says it will suspend more than three dozen humanitarian organisations, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), for failing to meet its new rules for aid groups working in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip
January 2, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Absolutely shocking.
A reminder that no international media has been allowed into Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. Now doctors and aid workers are being kept out too…
A reminder that no international media has been allowed into Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. Now doctors and aid workers are being kept out too…
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
Junta-organised elections begin today (Dec 28) in Myanmar, nearly 5 years after the coup. The votes, neither free nor fair, are being held amid civil war. This diary by a Shan journalist about a town's descent into lawlessness encapsulates what's been in happening.
kite-tales.org/en/article/n...
kite-tales.org/en/article/n...
No one to trust
kite-tales.org
December 28, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Junta-organised elections begin today (Dec 28) in Myanmar, nearly 5 years after the coup. The votes, neither free nor fair, are being held amid civil war. This diary by a Shan journalist about a town's descent into lawlessness encapsulates what's been in happening.
kite-tales.org/en/article/n...
kite-tales.org/en/article/n...
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
Thin Lei Win on changing her Myanmar passport for an Icelandic one.
“I don’t think I fully appreciated the mental load of carrying a passport that turns routine immigration appointments into nerve-wrecking ordeals; of being a citizen of a country whose government actively wants to harm you.”
“I don’t think I fully appreciated the mental load of carrying a passport that turns routine immigration appointments into nerve-wrecking ordeals; of being a citizen of a country whose government actively wants to harm you.”
2025 feels like both the longest & shortest year, for reasons personal, professional & related to the general state-of-world-ness.
Thin Ink will be taking a 2-week break so this is 2025's final issue. And as in previous years, it takes on a more personal hue.
news.thin-ink.net/p/borders-be...
Thin Ink will be taking a 2-week break so this is 2025's final issue. And as in previous years, it takes on a more personal hue.
news.thin-ink.net/p/borders-be...
Borders, Belonging, & Finally Travelling Without Fear
“Better weight than wisdom a traveller cannot carry”
news.thin-ink.net
December 19, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Thin Lei Win on changing her Myanmar passport for an Icelandic one.
“I don’t think I fully appreciated the mental load of carrying a passport that turns routine immigration appointments into nerve-wrecking ordeals; of being a citizen of a country whose government actively wants to harm you.”
“I don’t think I fully appreciated the mental load of carrying a passport that turns routine immigration appointments into nerve-wrecking ordeals; of being a citizen of a country whose government actively wants to harm you.”
2025 feels like both the longest & shortest year, for reasons personal, professional & related to the general state-of-world-ness.
Thin Ink will be taking a 2-week break so this is 2025's final issue. And as in previous years, it takes on a more personal hue.
news.thin-ink.net/p/borders-be...
Thin Ink will be taking a 2-week break so this is 2025's final issue. And as in previous years, it takes on a more personal hue.
news.thin-ink.net/p/borders-be...
Borders, Belonging, & Finally Travelling Without Fear
“Better weight than wisdom a traveller cannot carry”
news.thin-ink.net
December 19, 2025 at 4:54 PM
2025 feels like both the longest & shortest year, for reasons personal, professional & related to the general state-of-world-ness.
Thin Ink will be taking a 2-week break so this is 2025's final issue. And as in previous years, it takes on a more personal hue.
news.thin-ink.net/p/borders-be...
Thin Ink will be taking a 2-week break so this is 2025's final issue. And as in previous years, it takes on a more personal hue.
news.thin-ink.net/p/borders-be...
Hunger is often see as a result of factors beyond our control - sudden shocks like disasters & war - or a consequence of chronic poverty that's seen as inevitable rather than political. So Deborah Nelson I made an effort to break down hunger's different facets in this guide. gijn.org/resource/gui...
Guide to Investigating Food Insecurity
This reporting guide is designed to help journalists understand the causes of food inequity, famine, and starvation as well as the global agencies and data sources tracking these phenomena.
gijn.org
December 17, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Hunger is often see as a result of factors beyond our control - sudden shocks like disasters & war - or a consequence of chronic poverty that's seen as inevitable rather than political. So Deborah Nelson I made an effort to break down hunger's different facets in this guide. gijn.org/resource/gui...
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
Are you there, a coherent EU policy?
open.substack.com/pub/thinink/...
Do read last Friday's piece by @thinink.bsky.social and spread it. We should keep paying heed to her motto: "If we give up, they win.” For starters, let's keep ourselves informed and make thoughtful decisions on what we eat.
open.substack.com/pub/thinink/...
Do read last Friday's piece by @thinink.bsky.social and spread it. We should keep paying heed to her motto: "If we give up, they win.” For starters, let's keep ourselves informed and make thoughtful decisions on what we eat.
Are you there, a coherent EU policy?
It’s me, a conscientious consumer.
open.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Are you there, a coherent EU policy?
open.substack.com/pub/thinink/...
Do read last Friday's piece by @thinink.bsky.social and spread it. We should keep paying heed to her motto: "If we give up, they win.” For starters, let's keep ourselves informed and make thoughtful decisions on what we eat.
open.substack.com/pub/thinink/...
Do read last Friday's piece by @thinink.bsky.social and spread it. We should keep paying heed to her motto: "If we give up, they win.” For starters, let's keep ourselves informed and make thoughtful decisions on what we eat.
In the past two weeks, the EU has postponed a landmark legislation to curb deforestation, is considering loosening rules on pesticide approvals, weakened environmental protection, and relaxed regulations around gene-edited crops.
news.thin-ink.net/p/are-you-th...
news.thin-ink.net/p/are-you-th...
Are you there, a coherent EU policy?
It’s me, a conscientious consumer.
news.thin-ink.net
December 12, 2025 at 5:09 PM
In the past two weeks, the EU has postponed a landmark legislation to curb deforestation, is considering loosening rules on pesticide approvals, weakened environmental protection, and relaxed regulations around gene-edited crops.
news.thin-ink.net/p/are-you-th...
news.thin-ink.net/p/are-you-th...
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
Big agribusiness diverts the majority of cropland to feed not people - but *factory farms*.
🤔While claiming to be the solution to hunger.
It's called HUNGER WASHING (ht @thinink.bsky.social).
🌱Let's feed people, not factory farms!
#EUAgriFoodDays #FeedPeopleNotAgribusiness
🤔While claiming to be the solution to hunger.
It's called HUNGER WASHING (ht @thinink.bsky.social).
🌱Let's feed people, not factory farms!
#EUAgriFoodDays #FeedPeopleNotAgribusiness
🚨Industrial agriculture consumes most of our food, while millions go hungry in Europe.
Most EU farmland isn’t supporting people - it’s feeding factory farms.
That’s land we need to grow real food and nourish communities.
#EUAgriFoodDays #FeedPeopleNotAgribusiness
Most EU farmland isn’t supporting people - it’s feeding factory farms.
That’s land we need to grow real food and nourish communities.
#EUAgriFoodDays #FeedPeopleNotAgribusiness
December 9, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Big agribusiness diverts the majority of cropland to feed not people - but *factory farms*.
🤔While claiming to be the solution to hunger.
It's called HUNGER WASHING (ht @thinink.bsky.social).
🌱Let's feed people, not factory farms!
#EUAgriFoodDays #FeedPeopleNotAgribusiness
🤔While claiming to be the solution to hunger.
It's called HUNGER WASHING (ht @thinink.bsky.social).
🌱Let's feed people, not factory farms!
#EUAgriFoodDays #FeedPeopleNotAgribusiness
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
If you want to learn more about @thinink.bsky.social's work, you can also listen to (or read the transcript from) my interview with her on the @issuesinst.bsky.social podcast, NOT NOW BUT SOON issues.org/not-now-but-...
Not Now, But Soon: The Food System is Rigged
Thin Lei Win discusses growing up in Myanmar, and how that has shaped how she sees the intersection between food, climate, and disasters.
issues.org
December 5, 2025 at 12:48 PM
If you want to learn more about @thinink.bsky.social's work, you can also listen to (or read the transcript from) my interview with her on the @issuesinst.bsky.social podcast, NOT NOW BUT SOON issues.org/not-now-but-...
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
so pleased that we're able to republish this story from the great @thinink.bsky.social - read about the seed library, then go read more from news.thin-ink.net, and more from globalvoices.org!
’I don't see Palestine as an isolated story‘: An interview with Vivien Sansour, founder of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library
“[W]e want the Seed Library to be a place of freedom, an initiative for us to have autonomy over our food, but also over our spirit, our minds, our words.”
globalvoices.org
December 5, 2025 at 12:45 PM
so pleased that we're able to republish this story from the great @thinink.bsky.social - read about the seed library, then go read more from news.thin-ink.net, and more from globalvoices.org!
In “Famines as Failures of Exchange Entitlements”, published in August 1976, the great Amatya Sen made a novel argument: famines can arise from causes other than not having enough food to go around, or “food availability decline” (FAD).
open.substack.com/pub/thinink/...
open.substack.com/pub/thinink/...
The FAD That Won’t Die
The persistent myth of hunger as a result of “food availability decline”
open.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 1:25 PM
In “Famines as Failures of Exchange Entitlements”, published in August 1976, the great Amatya Sen made a novel argument: famines can arise from causes other than not having enough food to go around, or “food availability decline” (FAD).
open.substack.com/pub/thinink/...
open.substack.com/pub/thinink/...
✍🏻 I spent much of last week in a freezing cold conference centre, listening & talking to fellow investigative journalists. It was inspiring & exhilarating. Amusing too, whenever I keep hearing a common refrain.
🍝🍜👩🏻🍳🥘🤌🏻 “There’s so much food. They keep feeding us.”
news.thin-ink.net/publish/post...
🍝🍜👩🏻🍳🥘🤌🏻 “There’s so much food. They keep feeding us.”
news.thin-ink.net/publish/post...
Food, Climate, & Where They Meet…
Reflections from Kuala Lumpur and on Belém
news.thin-ink.net
November 28, 2025 at 11:04 AM
✍🏻 I spent much of last week in a freezing cold conference centre, listening & talking to fellow investigative journalists. It was inspiring & exhilarating. Amusing too, whenever I keep hearing a common refrain.
🍝🍜👩🏻🍳🥘🤌🏻 “There’s so much food. They keep feeding us.”
news.thin-ink.net/publish/post...
🍝🍜👩🏻🍳🥘🤌🏻 “There’s so much food. They keep feeding us.”
news.thin-ink.net/publish/post...
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
What We Eat Is Harming Us
news.thin-ink.net/p/what-we-ea...
Recommended reading with plenty of food for though, as usual. Thanks @thinink.bsky.social for yeat another thought-provoking post!
news.thin-ink.net/p/what-we-ea...
Recommended reading with plenty of food for though, as usual. Thanks @thinink.bsky.social for yeat another thought-provoking post!
What We Eat Is Harming Us
Scientific review urges urgent reform, regulation, and collective action on UPFs
news.thin-ink.net
November 21, 2025 at 3:30 PM
What We Eat Is Harming Us
news.thin-ink.net/p/what-we-ea...
Recommended reading with plenty of food for though, as usual. Thanks @thinink.bsky.social for yeat another thought-provoking post!
news.thin-ink.net/p/what-we-ea...
Recommended reading with plenty of food for though, as usual. Thanks @thinink.bsky.social for yeat another thought-provoking post!
We're eating more & more UPFs which are linked to chronic health conditions including obesity, type 2 diabetes, & cardiovascular disease, often displacing whole, traditional foods that could nourish us, according to a scientific study in The Lancet this week.
news.thin-ink.net/p/what-we-ea...
news.thin-ink.net/p/what-we-ea...
What We Eat Is Harming Us
Scientific review urges urgent reform, regulation, and collective action on UPFs
news.thin-ink.net
November 21, 2025 at 11:08 AM
We're eating more & more UPFs which are linked to chronic health conditions including obesity, type 2 diabetes, & cardiovascular disease, often displacing whole, traditional foods that could nourish us, according to a scientific study in The Lancet this week.
news.thin-ink.net/p/what-we-ea...
news.thin-ink.net/p/what-we-ea...
Last week's Thin Ink was farm size & land distribution.
Afterwards, I got an email from @alanmatthews.bsky.social, widely perceived as the foremost authority on EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which the NYT called one of the world’s largest subsidy schemes.
news.thin-ink.net/p/who-owns-t...
Afterwards, I got an email from @alanmatthews.bsky.social, widely perceived as the foremost authority on EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which the NYT called one of the world’s largest subsidy schemes.
news.thin-ink.net/p/who-owns-t...
Who Owns The Farmland - Redux
Ownership versus Use + Europe’s inevitable march to consolidation
news.thin-ink.net
November 14, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Last week's Thin Ink was farm size & land distribution.
Afterwards, I got an email from @alanmatthews.bsky.social, widely perceived as the foremost authority on EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which the NYT called one of the world’s largest subsidy schemes.
news.thin-ink.net/p/who-owns-t...
Afterwards, I got an email from @alanmatthews.bsky.social, widely perceived as the foremost authority on EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which the NYT called one of the world’s largest subsidy schemes.
news.thin-ink.net/p/who-owns-t...
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
Myanmar journalists in exile are "unable to escape the grim realities of the junta's brutality because their days are spent gathering news of the loss, grief, and despair back home" but downplay their trauma, writes our fellow from Kayin State.
kite-tales.org/en/article/w...
kite-tales.org/en/article/w...
When telling the story involves absorbing the despair
kite-tales.org
November 11, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Myanmar journalists in exile are "unable to escape the grim realities of the junta's brutality because their days are spent gathering news of the loss, grief, and despair back home" but downplay their trauma, writes our fellow from Kayin State.
kite-tales.org/en/article/w...
kite-tales.org/en/article/w...
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
November 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
If anyone still doubts how connected our food and climate systems are, this week’s State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) report from the FAO is a reminder.
The 2025 edition focuses on land degradation after two years of emphasis on true cost accounting.
news.thin-ink.net/p/who-owns-t...
The 2025 edition focuses on land degradation after two years of emphasis on true cost accounting.
news.thin-ink.net/p/who-owns-t...
Who Owns The Farmland?
Updated data on farm sizes, land distribution, & food production
news.thin-ink.net
November 7, 2025 at 4:34 PM
If anyone still doubts how connected our food and climate systems are, this week’s State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) report from the FAO is a reminder.
The 2025 edition focuses on land degradation after two years of emphasis on true cost accounting.
news.thin-ink.net/p/who-owns-t...
The 2025 edition focuses on land degradation after two years of emphasis on true cost accounting.
news.thin-ink.net/p/who-owns-t...
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
thank you for all the support; the statement from our union is now live here with some more reporting.
now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
November 3, 2025 at 11:25 PM
thank you for all the support; the statement from our union is now live here with some more reporting.
now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
Yup, this week's title is a play on that famous saying. But my answer differs from the usual one, which is "one bite at a time".
This is because we're talking about a different elephant here: power in food systems, who has it, who doesn't, and how to tackle it.
news.thin-ink.net/p/how-to-eat...
This is because we're talking about a different elephant here: power in food systems, who has it, who doesn't, and how to tackle it.
news.thin-ink.net/p/how-to-eat...
How to Eat an Elephant
In big chomps...
news.thin-ink.net
October 31, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Yup, this week's title is a play on that famous saying. But my answer differs from the usual one, which is "one bite at a time".
This is because we're talking about a different elephant here: power in food systems, who has it, who doesn't, and how to tackle it.
news.thin-ink.net/p/how-to-eat...
This is because we're talking about a different elephant here: power in food systems, who has it, who doesn't, and how to tackle it.
news.thin-ink.net/p/how-to-eat...
Read this and was absolutely gobsmacked by the contortions the writer went through to come to this conclusion.
In Opinion
Early in Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, “it was easy to assume that failure to learn his name reflected a failure to take him seriously,” John McWhorter writes. But “as a matter of pure linguistics, it would be surprising if people didn’t have trouble with the name Mamdani.”
Early in Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, “it was easy to assume that failure to learn his name reflected a failure to take him seriously,” John McWhorter writes. But “as a matter of pure linguistics, it would be surprising if people didn’t have trouble with the name Mamdani.”
Opinion | I Now Mispronounce You the Likely Next Mayor of New York City
A lot of people seem to trip over Zohran Mamdani’s name. The reason may not be as simple as it seems.
nyti.ms
October 31, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Read this and was absolutely gobsmacked by the contortions the writer went through to come to this conclusion.
Reposted by Thin from Thin Ink
As Artie the Producer said about Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show, "The New York Times has hit rock bottom, broken through, and fallen down to some new bottom that I'm not aware of."
In Opinion
Early in Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, “it was easy to assume that failure to learn his name reflected a failure to take him seriously,” John McWhorter writes. But “as a matter of pure linguistics, it would be surprising if people didn’t have trouble with the name Mamdani.”
Early in Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, “it was easy to assume that failure to learn his name reflected a failure to take him seriously,” John McWhorter writes. But “as a matter of pure linguistics, it would be surprising if people didn’t have trouble with the name Mamdani.”
Opinion | I Now Mispronounce You the Likely Next Mayor of New York City
A lot of people seem to trip over Zohran Mamdani’s name. The reason may not be as simple as it seems.
nyti.ms
October 31, 2025 at 2:24 PM
As Artie the Producer said about Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show, "The New York Times has hit rock bottom, broken through, and fallen down to some new bottom that I'm not aware of."