Planet Plate: cook the food, not the planet

Climate stories weren’t reaching people in a relevant, resonant way. For most Indonesians, climate change felt abstract, technical, and distant from daily life. 

The language of greenhouse gases and carbon budgets didn’t translate into the rhythms of family kitchens and street food stalls. But there was one universal entry point everyone understood: food. 

What if the stories of the climate crisis could be told through the meals we love and the ingredients we risk losing?

The Idea

Planet Plate is Indonesia’s first cooking podcast with a climate perspective. An innovative fusion of journalism, storytelling, and sensory experience. Each episode begins with a local recipe, then dives into how the changing climate reshapes that food. By turning cooking into storytelling, Planet Plate transforms a kitchen into a classroom and every listener into a participant in climate action.

• Format: 3-part audio and video series on KBR Prime, Spotify, and social media.
• Collaborators: Chefs, food anthropologists, and youth creators.
• Engagement: Listeners submitted local food stories and recipes via social media.
• Tone: Simple, warm, and human—combining climate data with the joy of cooking.

The Performance

• 2,946 plays and 2,219 unique listeners (Season 2).
• 7,988 page views; 3,187 active users on the microsite.
• 40,000+ views across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
• 60% of listeners aged 18–34 with gender parity.
• Featured by Reuters Institute & Earth Journalism Network.
• New sustainability partnerships with La Moringa, Kopi Sarongge, and Agus Tempe.
• Winner – 2025 Innovation of the Year (Podcast)

Through an impact focus group designed by climateXchange in collaboration with KBR, KBR facilitated the screening of a Planet Plate episode and the post-screening discussion with young people in the local community, which focused on creating space for reflections on food, culture, and the climate crisis. The following short-term change was explored:

• Enabled curiosity and engagement amongst local young people (16-24 year olds) to try new local ingredients (e.g. sago, gumbili)
  
  • Young people shared that they felt inspired to explore local food and recipes
  • Some became motivated to cook and experiment with traditional ingredients for the first time, but learnt about access challenges
  • Some expressed their intention to preserve food traditions
• Increased public awareness about the connection between food and the climate crisis, particularly the risks to local food diversity
  
  • Young people clearly connected food choices to climate change
  • The screening sparked live, strong emotions - sadness, worry, anger, excitement, some hope - about the climate impact on food security
  • Awareness of disappearing local foods and land usage increased as a direct result of engaging with the podcast.

“What’s on our plate is what the earth feels. The earth is not fine, so our food isn’t fine.” - Screening and discussion participant, Jakarta

“I used to see climate change as something far away. Now I see it in the food I eat.” — Listener, Jakarta

The Innovation

Where most climate communication warns of crisis, Planet Plate celebrates possibility. It turns recipes into revelations, connecting food heritage with global sustainability. It speaks the language of Gen Z and Millennials who are more likely to scroll for cooking hacks than food security news. It speaks in a human language understood by all, for all. 

The Human Story

Behind every episode is a community of young producers finding purpose, chefs becoming advocates, and listeners reviving disappearing dishes. Together, they turned a podcast into a movement for mindful eating and cultural preservation.

What’s Next

Planet Plate will expand into a national network of climate kitchens, with regional podcasts, workshops, and a crowdsourced cookbook. Because changing the story starts with changing the menu.