“We moved from a fishing village to Gochang to present how the Manjaedo family settles in the new region and how their lifestyle changes in the new environment,” said producer Lee Jin-ju at the press conference held at the Stanford Hotel in Sangam-dong, Seoul on Tuesday.

“Gochang is the breadbasket of the country, where, unlike the previously featured region, plenty of crops and plants can be sourced,” said producer Nah Yung-suk, explaining expectations are great that Cha, who plays a motherly role, will make the most of the available produce.

“As there are great ingredients galore, Cha began to ponder upon each cast members’ tastes and mood rather than just completing daily missions -- three meals a day -- out of scarce ingredients on Manjaedo Island,” added scriptwriter Kim Dae-ju.

The upcoming season marks not only the old cast in a new setting, but also features a new task: rice farming.

“We sold the cast members as tenant farmers to the head of the village, who has a rice paddy,” said Nah in a joking way, explaining they have long considered the task since rice is a staple food for Koreans and rice farming was such an important part of life for their ancestors.

However, since it takes about a year to harvest rice, “the members will grow vegetables in the family vegetable garden and work at other farms in the area that grow crops that are Gochang specialties,” Nah said. 

He added they could receive crops in return or receive cash they could use to buy other ingredients at the market. 

The fifth season of “Three Meals a Day” will be broadcast on tvN at 9:45 p.m. on Fridays, starting July 1.

By Jung Eun-jin (jej2403@heraldcorp.com)