A Note from Foodthink 11 November 2021, during the Fengnian Festival in Guangzhou, Foodthink interviewed two musicians from the band Wayna, Banong and Shibashi. This conversation became the first episode of the “Food Talk” podcast. Beyond this, during the early stages of “Food Talk”, Banong generously composed the intro and…

Recently, the World Health Organization’s assessment suggesting that aspartame may be carcinogenic has sparked widespread debate, bringing the use of sugar substitutes in processed foods back into the spotlight. In this episode, Food Talk has invited Lulu, a PhD candidate in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Fuwai Hospital, Peking…

In this episode, the Food Talk hosts are joined by an old friend, Shu Meng, who holds a PhD in Sociology from Cornell University. Our discussion takes its starting point from Shu Meng’s popular article, ‘The Bigger the Fridge, the Worse the Diet? The Food System in American Middle-Class Fridges’.…

Nestled among the countless trendy restaurants and cafes of the bustling Fenghuanghui commercial street on Beijing’s East Third Ring Road, there is a vegetable shop called “Ji Shi”. If you have ever passed by, you may have been drawn in by its rustic storefront and understated displays. In this episode,…

In 2022, the phrase “tech and tricks” (keji yu hen huo er) became a viral sensation. Driven by the exaggerated claims of social media influencers, consumers began to pay closer attention once again to the additives hidden in their daily food—not the blatantly harmful illegal ones like Sudan Red or…

In this episode, the Food Talk host travels to Tongxiang, Zhejiang, accompanying Yu Jiangang—a young man who returned to his roots—to visit the village where he was born, raised, and has now returned. They explore the village’s final acre of Hangbai chrysanthemums and the biodiversity and Jiangnan culture that surround…

In Europe and Japan, there is a long history of children learning through nature and agriculture. Every year, primary school pupils are organised by their schools to visit the fields to learn how to sow, nurture, and produce food—moving from the classroom to the outdoors, and from spring ploughing to…

This episode was recorded in the deserts of Alashan, Inner Mongolia, by Qihua, Foodthink’s researcher on climate change and small-scale ecological farming, and two guests. At the end of August 2022, the three of them sat beneath a great tree in an oasis within the Tengger Desert. In the background,…