Podcast episodes, transcripts, interviews, and related content.
What happens when three people accustomed to long hours at a desk decide to sell vegetables at a community organic produce shop near Sanyuanqiao in Beijing? Will they manage? Staring endlessly at screens, data, and back-to-back meetings, have you ever wondered: what is the point of all this? In this…
What happens when a “expert” with twenty years’ experience researching agricultural policy decides to roll up their trousers and personally cultivate 2.6 mu (roughly 0.42 acres) of paddy rice? Chen Jingjing, an agriculture university graduate with a long-standing focus on rural development, took what he calls an “unconventional” step this…
“‘A glass of milk a day strengthens the Chinese people’ – an advertising slogan most of you will recognise instantly.” In fact, the majority of Chinese people are lactose intolerant, and drinking milk can trigger diarrhoea, bloating and other digestive discomforts. Yet on today’s dining table, milk has become an…
Seeds are the vital carriers for the continuation of plant species. Human survival and flourishing are equally inseparable from them; every food we eat, whether grains, flours, oils or vegetables and fruits, begins as a tiny seed. Different seeds yield crops with distinctly different flavours. The reason we can no…
Have you ever fantasised about fleeing the city, returning to the countryside to farm, and embracing rural life? Have you ever harboured romantic notions of a “self-sufficient” existence? Yet real life on the land is far more complex and arduous than we imagine—and infinitely more moving. Wenzizi and Changjiaoling are…
Foodthink Says Today, fresh produce delivery platforms such as Alibaba’s Hema, Meituan’s Xiaoxiang, JD’s Qixian, and Dingdong Maicai are capturing public attention like never before. From the comfort of your home, a few taps on your phone are all it takes to have your daily essentials delivered in as little…
On an ordinary day, you decide to cook a meal at home. You open your grocery delivery app, select your ingredients, and on a whim add a few snacks and a 4.5-litre bulk water bottle. Just as you tap to pay, the bold promise of “Delivery in 30 Minutes” catches…
The north has seen remarkably heavy rainfall this year, stretching from the torrential summer downpours right through to the lingering autumn drizzle. For this episode of *Food Talk*, we’ll begin by talking about those recent rains. We’ve invited Yu Yang, a former delivery rider who now works as an editor…
Would you spend tens of yuan in a restaurant on a portion of frozen broccoli that might well be older than your child? — We’ve recently learned that this seemingly absurd scenario might actually be the case. Pre-prepared meals are quietly taking over our dining tables. From restaurants to takeaways,…
Foodthink’s Take Since early June, a video titled “From a City Besieged by Waste to a Shortage of Trash to Burn: China’s Speed Leaves the West Stunned” has spread rapidly online. The prospect of shovelling unsightly waste into an incinerator to burn it all away, then harnessing the released energy…
