1. Fungus can cure disease - 1929 Penicillin, an antibiotic was produced from a mold called ‘Penicillium Chrysogenum’ that is also a fungus.
2. Fungi cell walls are made of chitin, not cellulose like plants.
3. Mushrooms are more like people than plants. They have their own immune system that can produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight.
4. Mushrooms are almost entirely made of water and are excellent sources of B vitamins, selenium, and vitamin K.
5. There are over 70,000 known species of fungus.
6. The largest fungus on the planet is a honey mushroom in the Blue Mountains of Oregon stretching across 2384 acres and is estimated to be between 2400 and 8650 years old!
7. At least 350 species are consumed as food.
8. Mushrooms can be made into boards, fibers, even boats.
9. A fungus has been discovered that breaks down plastic in weeks instead of years.
10. Some mushrooms can breathe; Ganoderma Lucidum commonly known as the lingzi mushroom, respires oxygen in and carbon dioxide out.

Mario (Chuff) D. Basciani, a mushroom industry pioneer whose work ethic, tenacity and passion for mushrooms made him a role model to farmers throughout the country, died Sunday, Sept. 13, surrounded by his loving family. He was 91.

Mr. Basciani was a second-generation mushroom farmer, founder of Basciani Foods Inc., and patriarch of the Basciani family. He is survived by his wife of over 70 years, Anna, his five children, 18 grandchildren, and 40 great-grandchildren.

Mr. Basciani was born Jan. 20, 1929 in Toughkenamon, PA, to Italian immigrants Emedio and Anna Basciani. His father started harvesting mushrooms for the Pratt family in 1915, until he established his own farm in 1925. Mr. Basciani began working on the family farm at a young age and fell in love with all aspects of the business, especially the challenging physical work that comes with cultivating mushrooms. 

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Source: The Produce News

Neither plant nor animal, mushrooms have confounded humans since ancient times. Now, they’re a reminder of our tenuous place in an uncertain world.

The mushrooms sit on high, behind glass, above bottles of Armagnac and mezcal in a bar at the Standard hotel in Manhattan’s East Village. They are barely recognizable at first, just eerie silhouettes resembling coral growths in an aquarium, blooming in laboratory-teal light: tightly branched clusters of oyster mushrooms in hot pink, yolk yellow and bruise blue, alongside lion’s mane mushrooms, shaggy white globes with spines like trailing hair.

This isn’t décor, or only incidentally so; the 15-foot-long shelf is a miniature farm, installed by the New York-based start-up Smallhold as part of a larger, sprawling system made up of remote-controlled nodes at restaurants and grocery stores across the city, each producing from 30 to 100 pounds of mushrooms a week. Thousands of data points — on temperature, humidity, airflow — are transmitted daily to the company’s headquarters, to be recalibrated across the network as needed. At the Standard, where the crop goes into plates of chilaquiles and mushroom-infused bourbon cocktails, diners might stop midbite, look up and take note of their meal’s origins a few feet away. It’s a glimpse of the future of agriculture, further collapsing the distance between diner and ingredients, doing away with the cost and waste of packaging and transportation in hopes of alleviating pressure on an overtaxed environment.

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Source: New York Times By Ligaya Mishan

On September 8, in mushroom base of Tianyuan Town, Changning County, Yunnan Province of China, Reishi mushrooms are showing lovely and desirable growth trend, farmers are plunged into routine management work.

“Reishi mushroom is categorized into a kind of wood-rotting fungi. Now, the base absorbs 150 sheds that occupy 70 mu of area, and the expected gross production on Reishi mushroom spores powder could reach at least 30 tons while the anticipated production value could hit 3.5 million CNY. Next step, we plan to spread the artificial cultivation technology of Reishi mushroom to surrounding farmers, help drive them increase earnings and become affluent,” introduces owner of the base passionately, adding that Reishi mushrooms are aerobic, during the growth period of sporocarps, strong ventilation is undoubtedly needed. And, illumination is also indispensable on inducing the formation of sporocarps, growth of stipe and cap.

According to mushroom quotation provided by Anhui Fuyang Logistic Center of Agricultural Products, on September 7, Enoki mushroom, King oyster mushroom, White beech mushroom, Brown Shimeji mushroom and Seafood mushroom are 5 varieties that show price rise.

1.Price of Enoki mushroom has risen from 5.5 to 6.25 CNY per kg, indicating 13% of increase range.

2.Price of King oyster mushroom has risen from 5 to 7 CNY per kg, indicating 40% of increase range.

3.Price of White beech mushroom has risen from 10 to 11.6 CNY per kg, indicating 16% of increase range.

4.Price of Brown Shimeji mushroom has risen from 10 to 11.6 CNY per kg, indicating 16% of increase range.

5.Price of Seafood mushroom has risen from 8.5 to 9.5 CNY per kg, indicating 11% of increase range.

On the contrary, on September 7, Shiitake mushroom is the sole variety that shows price fall, from 18 CNY to 16 CNY, indicating 11% of decline range.

“Price of Black fungus and Auricularia polytricha is respectively at 7 CNY and 4 CNY per kg in our market. Recently, price of industrialized mushroom variety is on the rise by reason of huge demand while price of Shiitake mushroom goes down due to big source of supply,” introduces manager of Anhui Fuyang Logistic Center of Agricultural Products warmly.

On September 4, farmers living in Jiaojiajing Village, Shizong County of Yunnan Province are engaged with picking, sorting and packaging work of Agaricus blazei.

Known as Brazil mushroom, Agaricus blazei belongs to a kind of edible and medicinal mushroom which holds low production costs and promotes the circular operation mode of making waste profitable. Over the years, Jiaojiajing Village strengthens the development of Agaricus blazei industry, which helps exploit a prosperous path for farmers.

“By 2020, the expected gross output on Agaricus blazei could reach 120 tons, annual output value could hit 960,000 CNY while the anticipated net profit is going to attain 380,000 CNY in our village. Agaricus blazei industry is undoubtedly fattening the wallet of poor rural households,” said head of Jiaojiajing Village excitedly.

Designer Nina Bruun shapes biotech firm Grown's mushroom-based material for the safe carriage of Astep lighting.

One of the key aims of Wallpaper* Re-Made is to re-think the way we consume, and packaging is a crucial link in this story. Last year, a chat with Alessandro Sarfatti led to a discussion about what he perceived to be an important problem. Coming from a family of lighting experts (he is the grandson of design legend Gino Sarfatti, of Arteluce, see W* 218 and son of Luceplan founder Riccardo Sarfatti), and founder of a lighting brand himself, he is well aware of the amount of plastic needed to transport lighting pieces.

Sarfatti, who used to be CEO of Luceplan, founded Astep in 2014, intent on creating lighting products with contemporary designs and innovative technologies to improve our domestic experience and quality of life.

Please read the full article here.

Photography: Mikkel Vigholt Petersen
Writer: Rosa Bertoli

How ideas foundry Ecovative transforms mushrooms into everyday materials (including bacon).

There are few things that Eben Bayer hasn’t tried to make out of mushrooms. Over the past decade, the CEO of incubator Ecovative, which develops commercial applications for mushroom materials, has made packaging, textiles, insulation, and furniture out of fungus. This fall, through spinout Atlast Food, Bayer is launching an even more ambitious product: mushroom bacon—the first, he hopes, of a whole new category of mushroom meat alternatives.

Bayer sees mushrooms as an untapped resource for a number of industries. Researchers can easily extract cells of a specimen and grow them in bulk quickly, affordably, and in specific shapes. Ecovative’s early work focused on using mushroom cells in composite materials, growing mycelium with wood chips or hemp stock to create replacements for Styrofoam and building insulation. This material has been produced for Dell, Steelcase, and others to be used in packaging. The company has also developed a vegan mushroom leather licensed by Bolt Threads and used in a partnership with Stella McCartney.

Atlast is founded on the idea that mushrooms, particularly varietals such as chicken of the woods and oyster mushrooms, have a similar cellular structure to meat and can be cultivated to mimic bacon, steaks, chicken breasts, and other whole cuts (as opposed to Impossible Foods’ and Beyond Meat’s ground meat options). “Mycelium forms these beautiful, micron-level structures, with extreme precision, in 3D,” Bayer says. “So I think about, Where do you need really complex structures?” Atlast is planning to launch its own mushroom bacon brand this fall, before supplying other companies with the ingredient.

Source: Fast Company
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