Looks Aren’t Everything: How to Look Beyond the Surface for “Good Food”

How can we tell whether fruit and vegetables are truly good?

Should we rely solely on how symmetrical and attractive they look? If so, why is it that the ‘ugly’ produce—the misshapen fruits and veg found on the farm—disappears the moment it hits the shelves? The genes haven’t mutated; the market has simply filtered them out. If consumers judge food solely by its appearance, there will be an endless supply of synthetic gimmicks and additives created to cater to this demand.

Or should we rely on the labels on the packaging? Terms like ‘green’, ‘organic’, and ‘mountain-grown’ are everywhere, yet many small-scale farmers who produce truly high-quality produce are excluded by these labels.

In this episode, we visit Pingren Farm in Changping, Beijing, to explore what ‘good food’ really means to people. We hear perspectives from Zhou Chen, a PhD candidate studying food at the University of Amsterdam; Zhao Fei, a farmer and father; and Li Jie, a talented home cook. Drawing from their own experiences, our guests help us discover that by returning to the land, understanding the production process, and using our senses, we can get closer to what truly constitutes ‘good food’.

Much like people, food possesses its own unique diversity. The various imperfectly shaped vegetables are reflections of their differing growing environments. Just as none of us want to be a mere cog in the machine, forever conforming to a perfect template, the world on our plates also requires a degree of tolerance from the consumer.

At the end of the programme, our guests share some simple and delicious recipes, including roasted pumpkin, blue cheese cherry tomatoes with bean sprouts, stir-fried spinach and peanuts with soft eggs, and four-colour sweet potatoes. Join us for this episode of “Food Talk” as we explore the stories behind our food and learn how to be more discerning consumers.

Guest/s

Zhou Chen

A PhD student specialising in rural and ecological food. To me, food is a channel for imagination, leading me into the soil to encounter mole rats, and into the body, where I imagine a single vegetable or a tiny microbe becoming part of a shared ‘me’.

Zhao Fei

Organic planting technician at Pingren Farm, Beijing

Li Jie

A food enthusiast who has insisted on eating home-cooked meals for many years

Host

Xiao Jing

A podcast producer who loves visiting organic farmers’ markets in Beijing for soy milk and jianbing, and buying oddly shaped vegetables.

Timeline

00:43 What constitutes “good food”? Is it taste? Health? Fair pricing? Here is what this episode’s guests have to say.

07:56 There is a film called “The Taste of Cherry” in which the protagonist intends to commit suicide, but is ultimately swayed by the sweetness of a single cherry. Can food truly be so delicious that it is shocking?

09:58 We are used to seeing uniform fruit and vegetables in supermarkets, but those found on farms can sometimes be described as “ugly”. In reality, however, they are not “defective” by nature.

11:11 Who is it that demands perfect-looking produce? If we judge the quality of a cucumber solely by whether it is “straight” or has a “flower on top”, the market will find ten thousand “industrial tricks” to meet that demand.

16:18 A delicious tomato has thin skin that bruises easily—can you accept that? If we are more inclusive of a food’s appearance and understand more about its other attributes, we may get closer to finding truly “good” produce.

28:58 What do labels like “green”, “organic”, or “high-mountain produce” in supermarkets actually mean? And why do products from small-scale ecological farms lack these labels?

29:57 Beyond appearance and taste, what else can the five senses reveal about food? Your eyes, nose, and hands can all be used to get to know your food.

30:35 Voting with your wallet: how do our consumption choices reflect our support for a better, more sustainable world?

33:54 Where do the differences in taste come from? Why should we eat fresh and in season? The production manager of an organic farm shares their first-hand experience.

40:11 Reflections on the diet of the urban workforce: in fast-paced, high-pressure cities, is the act of “experiencing good food” a luxury? “Eating well” is, in itself, a form of daily resistance.

46:55 Choose better ingredients and use the simplest cooking methods—here is a collection of simple, delicious recipes! Roasted pumpkin, blue cheese cherry tomatoes with sprouts, peanut spinach with tender eggs, and four-colour sweet potato. Which one would you like to try?