When we assume of mushrooms and the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, the first factor which traditionally comes to thoughts is María Sabina, Huautla de Jiménez and hallucinogenic “magic” mushrooms. But slowly that is all altering as a result of the groundbreaking operate of Josefina Jiménez and Johann Mathieu in mycology, by means of their company, Mico-lógica.
Based in the village of Benito Juárez, positioned in Oaxaca’s Ixtlán district (additional frequently identified as the Sierra Norte, the state’s key ecotourism area), Mico-lógica’s mission is threefold: to train each Mexicans and visitors to the nation in the low-cost cultivation of a selection of mushroom species to educate about the medicinal, nutritional and environmental (sustainable) value of mushrooms and to conduct ongoing analysis with regards to optimum climatic regions and the diversity of substrata for mushroom culture.
The French-born Mathieu moved to Mexico, and in reality to Huautla de Jiménez, in 2005. “Yes, coming all the way to Mexico from France to pursue my interest in mushrooms seems like a lengthy way to travel,” Mathieu explained in a current interview in Oaxaca. “But there definitely wasn’t much of an chance to conduct studies and develop a small business in Western Europe,” he continues, “given that reverence for mushrooms had been all but fully eradicated by The Church more than the course of centuries and I learned that Mexico nonetheless maintains a respect and appreciation for the medicinal and nutritional value of hongos. Mexico is far from mycophobic.”
Huautla de Jiménez is more than a five hour drive from the closest metropolitan center. Accordingly, Mathieu eventually realized that staying in Huautla, though holding an historic allure and becoming in a geographic area conducive to operating with mushrooms, would hinder his efforts to grow a small business and cultivate widespread interest in studying about fungi. Mathieu became cognizant of the burgeoning reputation of Oaxaca’s ecotourism communities of the Sierra Norte, and indeed the Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres (regional wild mushroom festival), held annually in Cuahimoloyas.
Mathieu met Josefina Jiménez at the summertime weekend mushroom occasion. Buy Golden teacher mushrooms had moved to Oaxaca from hometown Mexico City in 2002. The two shared related interests Jiménez had studied agronomy, and for close to a decade had been functioning with sustainable agriculture projects in rural farming communities in the Huasteca Potosina region of San Luis Potosí, the mountains of Guerrero and the coast of Chiapas. Mathieu and Jiménez became business enterprise, and then life partners in Benito Juárez.
Mathieu and Jiménez are concentrating on 3 mushroom species in their hands-on seminars oyster (seta), shitake and reishi. Their 1-day workshops are for oyster mushrooms, and two-day clinics for the latter two species of fungus. “With reishi, and to a lesser extent shitake, we’re also teaching a fair bit about the medicinal uses of mushrooms, so extra time is essential,” says Mathieu, “and with oyster mushrooms it really is predominantly [but not exclusively] a course on cultivation.”
Though instruction seminars are now only given in Benito Juárez, Mathieu and Jiménez strategy to expand operations to include things like each the central valleys and coastal regions of Oaxaca. The object is to have a network of producers expanding distinct mushrooms which are optimally suited for cultivation based on the unique microclimate. There are about 70 sub-species of oyster mushrooms, and thus as a species, the adaptability of the oyster mushroom to distinct climatic regions is exceptional. “The oyster can be grown in a multitude of different substrata, and that’s what we’re experimenting with suitable now,” he elucidates. The oyster mushroom can thrive when grown on merchandise which would otherwise be waste, such as discard from cultivating beans, sugar cane, agave (such as the fibrous waste developed in mezcal distillation), peas, the common river reed identified as carriso, sawdust, and the list goes on. Agricultural waste which may otherwise be left to rot or be burned, every single with adverse environmental implications, can kind substrata for mushroom cultivation. It should really be noted, although trite, that mushroom cultivation is a very sustainable, green business. Over the past several years Mexico has in reality been at the fore in several regions of sustainable market.
Mathieu exemplifies how mushrooms can serve an arguably even greater environmental fantastic:
“They can hold up to thirty thousand occasions their mass, getting implications for inhibiting erosion. They’ve been applied to clean up oil spills via absorption and therefore are an significant car for habitat restoration. Study has been done with mushrooms in the battle against carpenter ant destruction it is been suggested that the use of fungi has the possible to absolutely revamp the pesticide sector in an environmentally friendly way. There are actually hundreds of other eco-friendly applications for mushroom use, and in every case the mushroom remains an edible by-solution. Take a appear at the Paul Stamets YouTube lecture, six Ways Mushrooms Can Save The Globe.”
Mathieu and Jiménez can normally be identified promoting their goods on weekends in the organic markets in Oaxaca. They’re both far more than happy to discuss the nutritional value of their products which range from naturally their fresh mushrooms, but also as preserves, marinated with either chipotle and nopal or jalapeño and cauliflower. The mushroom’s vitamin B12 can not be found in fruits or vegetables, and accordingly a diet plan which incorporates fungi is incredibly crucial for vegetarians who can’t get B12, most usually contained in meats. Mushrooms can easily be a substitute for meats, with the advantage that they are not loaded with antibiotics and hormones usually found in industrially processed meat items.