The Fungal New Deal

One of my favorite Haikus by Kobayashi Issa goes like this "O, Snail/ Climb Mt. Fuji/ But slowly, Slowly."

The problems we face are towering, and though the times are urgent, I believe in the power of many small positive transformations.  This project is one small step, or one small (but also mighty!) mushroom in that direction.  More people growing mushrooms in the city means more protein, more medicine, more joy, more happy taste buds and less waste. 

My goals are to increase mushroom cultivation in the city by:

• conducting workshops that demystify the process and make it more accessible
• exploring the possibility of cleansing heavy metals in the soil with relatively simple mycoremediation methods
• showcasing different ways of integrating mushroom cultivation in your backyard (or front or side or anywhere that's suitable!).  
• starting a spawn bank (fungal equivalent of seed bank).

This project is a collaboration between the Mushroom Factory, Singing Tree Detroit, Amanita Tree Service, Taproot Sanctuary, Field and Forest Products, and urban farms across the city.  Together we can start support the movement for a healthy, ecologically sound, and food sovereign Detroit!

If I were to rewrite Kobayashi Issa's haiku, it would go like this

O mushroom/ clean the soil, nourish the community, vitalize the ecosystem/ but slowly, slowly.

2021 Mid-October to mid-November: Volunteer days to prepare demonstration site and have log inoculation parties over 2 weekends. 

2022 April - May: We will host mushroom cultivation workshops at 4 different community gardens across Detroit over 4 weekends.(participants will learn the techniques to outdoor mushroom cultivation and take home a mushroom log!)

2022 June- infinity: Development of demonstration site.  We'll continue to experiment with different cultivation techniques and be a resource for people to visit and inoculate their own logs and/or dream together about the end of an industrial food system.

2022 May- 2023 May:  We will start our year long mycoremediation study that will observe the capactiy of 3 different mushrooms to lower lead levels in contaminated soils.

What if I told you that there's something that can decontaminate the soil from petrochemicals, heavy metals to pesticides in a cheap, effective and environmentally sound way.  Additionally, they can lower cholestral, boost your immunesystem, reduce risk of cancer, and can be used in prevention or treatment of Parkinson, Alzheimer, hypertension, and high risk of stroke.  Oh did I mention that they are high in protein, low in calories, carbohydrates, fat, and sodium: also, they are cholesterol-free.  Yup.  Mushrooms are all that.  The best part though, is that once you have access to the tools and techniques, this can be done on logs that are regularly being cut and mulched by arborist everyday.  Imagine that; we can grow food and medicine right in the city with material that is being taken to the landfill daily by the truck load.

This project is a collaboration between citizen scientists and soil scientists, arborists, mushroom cultivation company, and urban gardeners.  We believe in the power of home grown solutions that do not rely on massive inputs, but rather creatively connects diverse elements to create new possibilities of life.