We’re sisters Margaret—who goes by Mei—and Irene Li, and we’ve been running restaurants, writing cookbooks, and working toward a more sustainable food system for the past decade. We co-founded an award-winning food truck and restaurant that’s now a dumpling company in Boston, so we’re used to dealing with food waste on a large scale.

Our restaurant, Mei Mei, was certified as a sustainable business and recognized for its efforts to cut down on food waste. In the notoriously difficult restaurant industry, successful businesses track their ingredient costs down to the tenth of a percentage point.

If we waste food, we’re throwing away money. From cilantro stems in our curry to yellowed collard greens in our pesto, our cooks strategically use every edible part of a plant or an animal. Plus, we work closely with farmers, visiting farms and participating in harvest days. We see the immense love, care, and effort that goes into producing food. No one wants all that hard work to go to waste.