Post-Award Reflections: Why Start a Podcast? | Food Talk x Tuanli Structure

Recently, “Food Talk” was delighted to receive the Annual Podcast Award in the Public Welfare and Environmental Protection category at the 3rd CPA Chinese Podcast Culture Festival. This award also sparked a chance encounter. On 23 November, “Food Talk” host Xiaojing met an old friend at the awards ceremony—Yu Jiangang, host of the fellow podcast “Tuanli Jiegou”, who had travelled from Jiaxing, Zhejiang, in the midst of the busy chrysanthemum harvest.

“Food Talk” rarely socialises within the podcasting community, but this event provided a rare opportunity to step outside its usual bubble and see itself through the eyes of peers from both inside and outside the circle. While Xiaojing believes Foodthink belongs more in the “Food” category, Yu Jiangang jokingly remarked: “We’re a lifestyle podcast—how on earth did we win a Public Welfare and Environmental Protection award?”

This led to further reflection and the creation of this crossover episode with “Tuanli Jiegou”: Why do different listeners perceive the same podcast in different ways? How do hosts who have worked in the public welfare sector distinguish between “charity” and everyday life? What role does food play in this? And why choose podcasting as a medium for expression?

In a rare moment, the hosts reflect on their motivations for podcasting and the unexpected rewards they have found. Although the three hosts of “Tuanli Jiegou” all share an interest in food and sustainable living, they each bring a unique set of experiences. How did this “far-flung” group come together by a stroke of fate? We invite you to join our conversation.

Guests / Hosts

Yueli

Sustainable agriculture practitioner, based in Shenzhen. (Official Account: Wutongdao Market)

Du Yue

A post-90s “half-farmer, half-X” living and working in Weihai. (Official Account: Gao Ling Xiao Peng You)

Yu Jiangang

Sericulture, silk reeling, and chrysanthemum farming, based in Tongxiang, Jiaxing. (Official Account: Mei He Yu)

This Episode’s Host

Xiaojing

“Food Talk” host, who found it quite a surreal experience taking the legendary “corporate drone flight” to Shanghai for the first time.

Wang Hao

Foodthink editor, based in Beijing.

Timeline

00:00‍ Introductions to the hosts and guests

03:04 Observations on the ‘Minor Snow’ solar term from different regions‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

09:06 Our podcast actually won an award! But why the ‘Public Welfare and Environmental Protection’ category?‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

19:59 Yueli and Du Yue’s journeys before podcasting and their shifts in perspective‍‍‍‍

26:19 Why did ‘Tuanli Jiegou’ and ‘Food Talk’ choose podcasting? Different starting points and working methods‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

40:07 Understanding the audience and interacting with them; the goals and current state of the podcasts‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

54:28 Personal changes since starting the podcast‍‍‍‍‍

63:36 General chat (village redevelopment, year-end ‘Harvest Celebrations’ in Guangdong)‍