Podcast appearances and mentions of alison mountford

“Your cauliflower is not going to save nor destroy the world. But as we all make these decisions all the time and we scale, it can add up.” —Alison Mountford  The relationship between home cooking and reducing food waste extends deeper than just being a simple solution. It's about making conscious, constant decisions that influence both our health and our planet. Reinventing our kitchen practices could not only help us savor healthy, home-cooked meals but also contribute to a zero-food-waste lifestyle.  Founded by Alison Mountford, Ends+Stems, a meal planning service, aims to reduce household food waste and combat climate change. She leverages her 15-year career as a professional chef and entrepreneur to alleviate the stress of weeknight dinners and food waste. Alison's mission centers around reviving home cooking and supporting environmental sustainability. Listen in as Justine and Alison answer intriguing questions around food waste namely, How can we use our expertise to contribute to shifts in the food system? Do individual efforts truly make a difference? How can social media help us amplify our impact? What is the proper way to store low-moisture vegetables such as cauliflower and asparagus as opposed to high-moisture vegetables such as lettuce and celery? Lastly, if we find ourselves generating food waste, does it mean we failed? Meet Alison:  Alison Mountford is the Founder and CEO of Ends+Stems, a meal-planning service designed to reduce household food waste and stop the effects of climate change. Alison turned 15 years of professional chef and entrepreneurial experience into a solution to help eliminate both weeknight dinner stress and food waste in one clever step.   Alison is a passionate problem solver and approachable leader with a dual vision; to get households cooking again and to save the planet. Before building Ends+Stems, Alison founded Square Meals in 2005, one of San Francisco's first prepared meal delivery companies. Square Meals was the first to market and helped define the trend of chef-prepared meals delivered to your door.   For 10 years, Alison grew Square Meals into a successful cafe and catering company and had the opportunity to cook for celebrities, politicians, and many influential companies. After selling Square Meals, Alison had a short stint as Procurement Director for a food tech company, solidifying her passion for reducing food waste.   Alison has been named a Rubicon Waste Fit Champion, was a finalist for the Spoon Tech Startup Showcase, has appeared on many podcasts and radio shows, and works as a food waste consultant.   Website Facebook  Instagram YouTube TikTok Pinterest Connect with NextGen Purpose: Website Facebook Instagram  LinkedIn YouTube Episode Highlights: 00:48 Reducing Food Waste as a Cook  03:26 Using Your Expertise to Create Change 07:07 Do Individual Actions Matter?  12:37 Leveraging TikTok 17:52 Low Moisture vs High Moisture Vegetables 20:44 Look Forward    

According to the US Department of Agriculture, Americans waste more than $161 billion each year on food, with most of it ending up in landfills. Our guest, interviewed by host Emily Soloby of Juno Jones Shoes, is a creative problem solver on a mission to end this kind of household food waste. Chef Alison Mountford is the founder of ends+stems, a meal planning service designed to reduce food waste and stop the effects of climate change. Alison is a chef by training and a successful culinary entrepreneur. She started one of San Francisco's first prepared meal delivery systems back in 2005, called Square Meals. She grew Square Meals into a booming cafe and catering company and sold it in 2015. ends+stems, her most recent venture, is even more exciting because of its social and environmental mission. In this debut episode of Hazard Girls™, Alison shares with listeners a bit about her background, her love for food, and her first foray into owning her own business. We talk about gender stereotypes and imbalances in the food industry, and Alison explains how she was able to avoid some of the toxicity. Of course, we also dive into food waste and Alison tells us why she started ends+stems and how it can help you to reduce your own in-house food waste because, surprisingly, homes are the largest source of food waste in the US! Don't miss this exciting episode with boss chef, Alison Mountford! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the U.S., a whopping 40% of food is wasted, and some of it starts at the grocery store and in our kitchens. We may purchase more than we consume, toss perfectly good food scraps, food that's past a certain date, or leftovers that no one wants to touch. Although the intention is to eat everything we buy, our kids are picky and we're super-busy too, so it's not always realistic. If you want to how to reduce food waste at home, however, it's not as tough as you may think.  In this episode, I sat down with Alison Mountford, a chef, speaker, and the founder of Ends+Stems, a meal planning membership that's designed to help families reduce food waste. Alison also hosts a series of online courses for easier weeknight meals and feeding picky eaters with less stress. Alison talks about what those dates on packages actually mean, and how to reduce food waste at home by conducting a fun food audit with your kids, meal planning, and using leftovers and food scraps. Plus, with more parties and the holidays right around the corner, she talks about what to do with all the extra food.  Welcome  2:04 Let's talk about your story! 4:21 Why do we waste so much food in the U.S.? 10:56 What about throwing out food when you have babies and young kids?  13:26 What should we know about “best by,” “use by,” and other dates? 18:14 What are ways that families can reduce food waste at home? 21:29 How can we make meal planning easier? 24:03 What can we do about leftovers?  26:11 How can we use food scraps? 28:17 How can we use the freezer? 31:17 You say we should eat ugly—what does that mean? 33:29 How can we get kids involved? 36:13 How can you donate cooked food? LINKS MENTIONED IN THE SHOW Julie mentions 108 billion pounds of food is wasted in the U.S. each year.  Learn more about Alison's course: Chef Alison's Stress-Less Family Meals. Alison mentions the Olio app. Learn more about Alison and Ends + Stems on EndsandStems.com Follow Alison on Instagram and TikTok. FROM OUR PARTNERS Kids Cook Real Food eCourse The Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, created by a mom of 4 and a former elementary school teacher, is designed to build connection, confidence, and creativity in the kitchen. The course includes 30 basic cooking skills, 45 videos including several bonuses, printable supply and grocery shopping lists, and kid-friendly recipes. The course is designed for all kids ages 2 to teen and has three different skill levels. More than 18,000 families have taken the course and The Wall Street Journal named it the #1 cooking class for kids. Sign up now for the Kids Cook Real Food ecourse and get a free lesson for being a “Food Issues” listener. Thrive Market Thrive Market is an online membership-based market that has the highest quality, organic, non-GMO, healthy, and sustainable products. From groceries, clean beauty, safe supplements, and non-toxic home products to ethical meat, sustainable seafood, clean wine, and more, Thrive Market is where members save an average of $32 on every order! Through Thrive Gives, every paid membership sponsors a free one for a low-income family. Join Thrive Market today and get 25% off your first order and a free gift. 

We often think of making sustainable choices as a sacrifice, but when it comes to reducing food waste, you can save money and diversify your meal planning.Chef Alison Mountford makes it easy to create interesting meals with minimal waste (even for families) with her platform Ends+Stems. Today, you can listen in for tips about:Reducing food wasteGetting creative in the kitchenLiving more economicallyLeveraging your skillset to create a bigger impactAlison Mountford is a chef and food waste educator. She is the founder of Ends+Stems, a meal planning platform that helps busy families reduce food waste. Alison is a speaker, teacher of classes and courses, and recipe and meal plan developer.https://www.instagram.com/endsandstems/http://www.endsandstems.com/

Got food waste? Over 30-40% of all food is wasted. Yet, we have people in our own communities and elsewhere that are going hungry. We know composting is important, but reducing food waste first is the goal. However, when we throw kids into the mix, it can feel completely out of our control and overwhelming. In this episode, I'm talking with Alison Mountford of ends & stems - a professional chef who has a focus on helping busy families get food on the table without the stress, drama, and overwhelm, with the added bonus of reducing food waste. Yes, even if you have CHOOSEY eaters!Complete episode transcript. Here are the questions we answer and topics covered:Issue with food wasteHow to tackle home-packed school lunchesWays we can talk to kids about food wasteHow to incorporate reducing food waste into your family valuesHow to address food waste at home with choosy eatersHow to avoid making separate meals for kids who don't like what's being servedHow to get dinner on the table for your family with less stress and less drama and less food wasteResources mentioned in this episode (some links may contain affiliate links, which helps support our amazing guests and this podcast):Bento BoxEpisode 11 - How to compost at home with kidsFamily values episodes (Ep 17 with Lindsay & Episode 2 with Stephanie)Gardening with kids ep. 4Where to find Alison & ends & stems:ends & stemsrecipe finderInstagramLet's connect!Email me: Laura@raisingecominimalists.comBlog (Reduce, Reuse, Renew)Instagram (@raisingecominimalistspodcast or @reducereuserenewblog)Support the Show Leave a review on Apple and/or Spotify Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/gPwH8QEUo)

Alison Mountford was working at her sales job when she googled "What do I do with my life?" And Google delivered. Alison came across an article listing the top 10 fastest small businesses, which included personal chef service. She then called her dad and told him she was quitting her job to study at a culinary school. He said ok. In this episode of Prickly and Blooming, Alison Mountford chats with host Jessie Browning about her career in the food industry from becoming a personal chef to opening her own brick and mortar. She also shares how she became passionate about food waste and starting her own business, Ends & Stems that stops people from wasting food at home. Episode Timeline: [00:03] Intro [06:11] Meet Alison Mountford [08:17] Google delivered [13:33] Her prescribed life [20:09] Choosing a major [22:33] Living in the West Coast [26:17] Trusting your knowing [35:45] Becoming a personal chef [40:48] How will I deal with this excess? [50:07] Starting Ends & Stems [1:03:34] What Ends & Stems looks now [1:12:27] Jessie's rapid fire questions [1:18:28] Contacting Alison Mountford [1:19:17] Outro Resources Mentioned: Schitt's Creek In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles Glennon Doyle The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel Standout Quotes: "If I say I'm bored, they know that something is coming." -Alison Mountford [06:57] "I got obsessed with the idea of my next step being the first step of the rest of my life in a way." -Alison Mountford [25:56] "It's surprising that a lot of men in business would say to me, ‘Oh, you can't have this business if you have a baby.' That would be always the common, and it's not what happened. What happened was I got a break. Once I had my daughter, there was actually some space and a new way of being, new things that needed my attention. And I no longer wanted to keep plotting along because that was the path I had set myself on, and it was the moment that actually let me look at the bigger picture of my life and say, ‘I don't want to feel like this anymore. I don't want to work all day everyday anymore.'" -Alison Mountford [45:39] Connect: Connect with Lajoie Society: Lajoie Society is Prickly & Blooming; please rate, review, and subscribe. Lajoie Society on Instagram Lajoie Society on Facebook Lajoie Society on Twitter Lajoie Society Website Learn more...

Alison Mountford was working at her sales job when she googled “What do I do with my life?” And Google delivered. Alison came across an article listing the top 10 fastest small businesses, which included personal chef service. She then called her dad and told him she was quitting her job to study at a culinary school. He said ok. In this episode of Prickly and Blooming, Alison Mountford chats with host Jessie Browning about her career in the food industry from becoming a personal chef to opening her own brick and mortar. She also shares how she became passionate about food waste and starting her own business, Ends & Stems that stops people from wasting food at home.   Episode Timeline: [00:03] Intro [06:11] Meet Alison Mountford [08:17] Google delivered [13:33] Her prescribed life [20:09] Choosing a major [22:33] Living in the West Coast [26:17] Trusting your knowing [35:45] Becoming a personal chef [40:48] How will I deal with this excess? [50:07] Starting Ends & Stems [1:03:34] What Ends & Stems looks now [1:12:27] Jessie’s rapid fire questions [1:18:28] Contacting Alison Mountford [1:19:17] Outro   Resources Mentioned: Schitt's Creek In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles Glennon Doyle The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel   Standout Quotes: “If I say I’m bored, they know that something is coming.” -Alison Mountford [06:57] “I got obsessed with the idea of my next step being the first step of the rest of my life in a way.” -Alison Mountford [25:56] “It’s surprising that a lot of men in business would say to me, ‘Oh, you can’t have this business if you have a baby.’ That would be always the common, and it’s not what happened. What happened was I got a break. Once I had my daughter, there was actually some space and a new way of being, new things that needed my attention. And I no longer wanted to keep plotting along because that was the path I had set myself on, and it was the moment that actually let me look at the bigger picture of my life and say, ‘I don’t want to feel like this anymore. I don’t want to work all day everyday anymore.’” -Alison Mountford [45:39]   Connect: Connect with Lajoie Society: Lajoie Society is Prickly & Blooming; please rate, review, and subscribe. Lajoie Society on Instagram Lajoie Society on Facebook Lajoie Society on Twitter Lajoie Society Website    Learn more about Alison Mountford: Ends + Stems Website What's in My Fridge Recipe Finder Ends + Stems on Instagram Ends + Stems on Facebook Alison Mountford on Facebook Alison Mountford on Twitter

According to the US Department of Agriculture, Americans waste more than $161 billion each year on food, with most of it ending up in landfills. Today’s guest, interviewed by host Emily Soloby of Juno Jones Shoes, is a creative problem solver on a mission to end this kind of household food waste. Chef Alison Mountford is the founder of ends+stems, a meal planning service designed to reduce food waste and stop the effects of climate change. Alison is a chef by training and a successful culinary entrepreneur. She started one of San Francisco’s first prepared meal delivery systems back in 2005, called Square Meals. She grew Square Meals into a booming cafe and catering company and sold it in 2015. ends+stems, her most recent venture, is even more exciting because of its social and environmental mission. In this debut episode of Hazard Girls™, Alison shares with listeners a bit about her background, her love for food, and her first foray into owning her own business. We talk about gender stereotypes and imbalances in the food industry, and Alison explains how she was able to avoid some of the toxicity. Of course, we also dive into food waste and Alison tells us why she started ends+stems and how it can help you to reduce your own in-house food waste because, surprisingly, homes are the largest source of food waste in the US! Don’t miss this exciting episode with boss chef, Alison Mountford!

Research has shown that simply having a shopping list and meal plan every time you buy groceries results in easier meals, saving money, and less waste. So why is it that this is so hard for so many of us to do?Alison Mountford knows the answer all too well. After seeing how much waste was happening in people’s homes during her time as a private chef, she started a business to help empower people with meal plans to make cooking easier and less wasteful once and for all. In our inspiring chat, Alison shares eye-opening and practical tips that you can try at home to shop smarter, make interesting meals, and stop throwing away your hard-earned grocery dollars. Alison walks us through how to do a food waste audit and explains why taking photos of everything you throw out for a month can help you turn around how much food you’re throwing out. She also shares her biggest pet peeve in any recipe and explains why too many recipes are actually too short to be useful in the long run. We discuss the difference between fancy food TV recipes and ones you’ll actually make for dinner and how to bridge the gap between the two of them. We close by discussing how to get your kids in the kitchen with you, how to stop aspirationally shopping for lettuce, and exploring ways to keep your leftovers interesting. Relating to food better starts with a good meal plan and Alison is quite literally the woman with the plan. This episode is packed full of fun tips and delicious perspectives that you can put into action in your life! Show NotesEnds + Stems Website: https://www.instagram.com/endsandstems/Alison’s Instagram is a must-follow! https://www.instagram.com/endsandstems/Alison points out that the majority of food waste that happens in our country happens in our homes: https://www.refed.com/?sort=economic-value-per-tonAlison highly recommends saving the outer leaves that come off your Brussels sprouts and roasting them into chips for your kids! https://www.thekitchn.com/last-minute-app-161128One of Alison’s favorite recipes of all time is honey Sriracha salmon: https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a27722519/honey-sriracha-salmon-recipe/Alison thinks everyone should eat beet greens. We do too! https://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/15-ways-to-eat-beet-greens-articleAlison thinks group action and individual action can work together to address food waste. Organizations she’s a particularly big fan of are the Sunrise Movement, Food Shift, and 1% for the Planet sunrisemovement.org: http://foodshift.net/https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/One of Alison’s go-to meals to make for other people is pasta carbonara: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoHnwOHLiMkAlison’s favorite karaoke song is the overture from the Hamilton soundtrack and wow is it epic! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhinPd5RRJw

Hello and welcome to STATE OF MIND. I’m Grace Kingswell, I’m a Nutritional Therapist and Lifestyle Medicine Advocate and this is my series all about health, mental wellbeing, state of mind, the environment, creating sustainable practices and finding true connection with yourself, those around you and with nature.   Today I’m talking to Alison Mountford, the founder of Ends + Stems - a recipe delivery service that aims to reduce your food waste. The reason I was so excited to talk to Alison is because she’s all about community, and, having been on this podcast journey for some time now I’ve realised that regaining our sense of community is the number one way that we all start thinking with a more sustainable mindset.    Of course, the statistics on food waste are shocking - 24 million slices of bread a day are wasted in the UK alone, but we go much deeper than that in this podcast episode and start to discuss fundamental human behaviours surrounding waste, our careless throw away attitudes and the whys and hows of this food waste issue.    Alison and her team have developed a clever calculator that will tell you at the end of each week how many kilograms of greenhouse gasses you’ve saved by following her meal plans - I think this is amazing as it gives you a truly tangible way to make a difference. But it gets even better, then Alison worked with a specialist to figure out how many slices of pizza would equate to kilograms of greenhouse gasses so that at the end of each week she can accurately tell you how many slices of pizza you’ve saved from land fill.    There is so much knowledge and insight in this episode and I really hope you enjoy it!   @gracekingswell @endsandstems endsandstems.com

In today's episode Alison and I talk all things business! This is a great one! Alison Mountford is the Founder and CEO of Ends+Stems, a meal planning service designed to reduce household food waste and stop the effects of climate change. Alison turned 15 years of a professional chef and entrepreneurial experience into a solution to help eliminate both weeknight dinner stress and food waste in one clever step. Alison is a passionate problem solver and approachable leader with a dual vision; to get households cooking again and to save the planet. Before building Ends+Stems, Alison founded Square Meals in 2005, one of San Francisco’s first prepared meal delivery companies. Square Meals was first to market and helped define the trend of chef-prepared meals delivered to your door. After selling Square meals, Alison had a short stint as Procurement Director for a food tech company, solidifying her passion for reducing food waste. Alison has been named a Spoon.Tech Start-Up Finalist, Rubicon Waste Fit Champion, was a finalist for the Roddenberry Foundation fellowship, and has appeared on many podcasts and radio shows, and works as a food waste consultant.

Alison Mountford is the Founder and CEO of Ends+Stems, a meal planning service designed to reduce household food waste and stop the effects of climate change. Our very rich chat had us discussing how Alison has been able to balance caring for her family while running her mission driven business. The idea of being a boss intrigued Alison and lead her to start her 1st business  with USD500 which she sold after 10 years. THANKS FOR LISTENING! PLEASE RATE, REVIEW AND SUBSCRIBE…

We all know food waste is one of the biggest problems in the 21st century. But whose problem is it? In this episode, I talk to Alison Mountford about all the things food waste. Alison shares her journey to managing an efficient and sustainable kitchen, along with tips she's learned and her opinions about how everyday people, companies and governments need to respond. About Alison Mountford Alison Mountford is the Founder and CEO of Ends+Stems, a meal planning service designed to reduce household food waste and the effects of climate change. Alison has 15 years of experience as a professional chef and entrepreneur. Ends+Stems is also the host of The Great Food Waste Challenge, a free online resource and international community where anyone can pledge their intention to reduce food waste. The Challenge has 800 participants from 9 countries and counting. Find the show notes and more information about our community on . The jingle, Funny Polka, is from HookSounds.

This episode is a wrap up of my thoughts and ramblings on my interview with Alison Mountford, Founder and Head Chef of Ends and Stems. Alison and I didn’t have any prior engagements before the interview and this was a great way to get to know more about her and her business on a deeper level. What You’ll Learn About:How she brought together the footprint that we have on our planet and converting it into something we could think about.Creating an impact by following her passion and brilliant concept all by herself.Whitedove’s advice for women who have a burning desire to change the world - you can absolutely do it! Links:Ends and Stems WebsiteEnds and Stems InstagramEnds and Stems FacebookEnds and Stems PinterestEnds and Stems TwitterEnds and Stems YouTube Whitedove Gannon WebsiteWhitedove Gannon FacebookWhitedove Gannon InstagramWhitedove Gannon LinkedInWhitedove Gannon TwitterWhitedove Gannon Email 

Founder and Head Chef of Ends and Stems, Alison Mountford tells us about her journey to building a business that not only serves people but also cares for the environment. Learn about what she has gone through to create a successful business that gives back. What You’ll Learn About:Alison tells us about her journey to becoming an entrepreneur.Her favorite things about entrepreneurship.One element she had to overcome to be able to continue moving forward.The effect bootstrapping as a backbone of her business.The idea that women who bootstrap may be undervaluing the fact that they have a business.The disconnect of old and new age of entrepreneurs.Alison tells us about Ends and Stems and how it aims to help the environment.The ripple effect of the positive impacts we make for the environment. Links:Ends and Stems WebsiteEnds and Stems InstagramEnds and Stems FacebookEnds and Stems PinterestEnds and Stems TwitterEnds and Stems YouTube

In this episode, chef Alison Mountford tells us her story with the food business and how she came to focus on helping families with food waste. She shares how she got into food and why simplifying has become a better way of cooking for her.She also shares how she's getting the kids involved and give us her family favorite easy recipe.

Ends and Stems is a meal planning service with sustainable values at its core (no pun intended). Our host, Amy Koonin, is joined via Skype by Alison Mountford, CEO and Founder of Ends and Stems and a Rubicon 2018 Waste Fit Champion. With over a decade in the culinary industry, Mountford is successfully fighting food waste without sacrificing flavor!

This week we talk with Alison Mountford, founder of Ends + Stems about her meal planning business that helps reduce household food waste. We talk about her entrepreneurial journey and what led her to open Ends + Stems and how the business is evolving. Alison shares tips on how she’s grown her customer base and how she retains them. She also talks about managing a large amount of content on an ongoing basis -- tools she uses and tips on what has worked best for the business. Episode Highlights: Stats on food waste: 40% of food we produce ends up in the landfill $165 billion of edible food is wasted in the US Ends + Stems helps home cooks reduce food waste through a meal planning subscription service. Alison shares how the business started as a blog and how it is currently evolving into a subscription model Alison tells us how she has built and continues to grow her email list She shares tools and tips for managing ongoing content which is a large part of her business Alison also shares lessons learned from her businesses and her advice to listeners considering leaning the f*ck out 50% off first month with promo code: MEALPLAN About Alison Mountford Alison Mountford is the Founder, Chef and CEO at Ends+Stems. Alison has 15 years of head chef and entrepreneurial experience. In 2004, she founded her first company (Square Meals), which delivered ready to eat meals to busy families around the Bay Area. Mountford’s business acumen, vision, and management successfully grew this business from one client to selling thousands of high end meals weekly and was at the forefront of the meal delivery trend. Square Meals was sold in 2015. Her time leading procurement for a large food tech company inspired her to found Ends+Stems and set off a mission to do good for the planet and customers. E+S combines her unique knowledge of consumer food habits, culinary skill set, and accurately forecasts a need in the Food Waste trends developing today. Alison holds a culinary degree from the California Culinary Academy and both an A.A and B.A from New York University. Follow Alison online at: https://endsandstems.com/ https://www.facebook.com/EndsandStems/ https://www.instagram.com/endsandstems/ Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles

We all have to eat. But we don't have to continue the pattern of wasting 1/4 of what we buy. Alison Mountford wants us to stop wasting food + stick it to the man. Her website Ends and Stems provides comprehensive meal planning, grocery lists, and kitchen tips to help every family save money and eat their food.

Originally aired on December 27th 2017.