What is the social value of a daytime street market? In this episode, sociologist Ellen Meiser talks with Gastronomica’s Dan Bender about the meaning and value of Taiwan’s caishichang. Drawing on her early memories of these vegetable street markets and her participant observations of the same lively streets in the contemporary moment, Ellen explains the important roles that caishichang play in the local food system and in social, economic, and political life.