What Can We Do About Food Waste? with Mei Li of Food Waste Feast
Episode 73 - February 17th, 2022
Food Waste Happens.
It is a big picture thing with a lot of moving parts and waste at every turn.
So, what can we do about food waste? What difference can I make?
Cook book author and former Mei Meirestaurateur, Mei Li, is here to motivate us at the household level with Food Waste Feast. Because home cooks can make a difference. Up to 40% of food waste happens after we buy our groceries: The forgotten salad, half a lemon the recipe didn’t call for, overpouring cereal for kids… it all adds up.
Making little changes with not just how we cook and but how we think about food can make a big difference to our wallets and, bonus points, the environment too! We can save money, create delicious food and make the world a better place… It’s oh so satisfying
Tangents Include:
Chinese American upbringing
Authenticity in cooking
Different types of foodies
Dumpling fillings
Sustainability with cooking
Chinese food with cheese
Double Awesome Chinese Food
Writing a cookbook
Food waste along the supply chain
Issues with expiration dates
Waste saving tips for home
Mom hacks for food waste
Mei Mei & Food Waste Feast
Margaret (Mei) Li is the middle child of three Chinese-American siblings who put their food loving powers together to open a food truck… which became the farm-loving, woman-owned Mei Mei Boston restaurant… which turned into a dumpling and virtual cooking class company during the pandemic. The youngest sibling, Chef Irene Li, Six-time James Beard Award nominee, has taken the lead at Mei Mei. (read more here)
But what about Mei? She helped put the deliciousness of Mei Mei Boston and their cross-culinary upbringing into a cookbook, Double Awesome Chinese Food, and she is working on her next cookbook inspired by the blog and community of Food Waste Feast. She’s also a business savvy entrepreneur with several projects to brag about (read more here). Mei lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband Leo and her kids Kira and Lewis.