When we consider of mushrooms and the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, the initial issue which traditionally comes to thoughts is María Sabina, Huautla de Jiménez and hallucinogenic “magic” mushrooms. But gradually that’s all altering as a result of the groundbreaking operate of Josefina Jiménez and Johann Mathieu in mycology, through their company, Mico-lógica.
Based in the village of Benito Juárez, positioned in Oaxaca’s Ixtlán district (far more frequently recognized as the Sierra Norte, the state’s most important ecotourism area), Mico-lógica’s mission is threefold: to train both Mexicans and guests to the nation in the low-expense cultivation of a selection of mushroom species to educate about the medicinal, nutritional and environmental (sustainable) worth of mushrooms and to conduct ongoing research 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 Mushroom chocolate bar to Mexico from France to pursue my interest in mushrooms appears like a lengthy way to travel,” Mathieu explained in a current interview in Oaxaca. “But there genuinely wasn’t a lot of an chance to conduct studies and grow a business in Western Europe,” he continues, “considering that reverence for mushrooms had been all but fully eradicated by The Church more than the course of centuries and I discovered 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 extra than a five hour drive from the closest metropolitan center. Accordingly, Mathieu eventually realized that staying in Huautla, when holding an historic allure and being in a geographic area conducive to operating with mushrooms, would hinder his efforts to develop a company and cultivate widespread interest in finding out 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. Jiménez had moved to Oaxaca from hometown Mexico City in 2002. The two shared similar interests Jiménez had studied agronomy, and for close to a decade had been operating 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 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 a single-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 makes use of of mushrooms, so far more time is expected,” says Mathieu, “and with oyster mushrooms it’s predominantly [but not exclusively] a course on cultivation.”
Though education seminars are now only offered in Benito Juárez, Mathieu and Jiménez plan to expand operations to include things like both the central valleys and coastal regions of Oaxaca. The object is to have a network of producers developing distinct mushrooms which are optimally suited for cultivation based on the particular microclimate. There are about 70 sub-species of oyster mushrooms, and thus as a species, the adaptability of the oyster mushroom to distinctive climatic regions is remarkable. “The oyster can be grown in a multitude of different substrata, and that is what we’re experimenting with correct now,” he elucidates. The oyster mushroom can thrive when grown on goods which would otherwise be waste, such as discard from cultivating beans, sugar cane, agave (like the fibrous waste made in mezcal distillation), peas, the popular river reed identified as carriso, sawdust, and the list goes on. Agricultural waste which may perhaps otherwise be left to rot or be burned, every single with adverse environmental implications, can form substrata for mushroom cultivation. It ought to be noted, although trite, that mushroom cultivation is a highly sustainable, green business. More than the previous a number of years Mexico has in truth been at the fore in lots of areas of sustainable business.
Mathieu exemplifies how mushrooms can serve an arguably even higher environmental good:
“They can hold up to thirty thousand instances their mass, getting implications for inhibiting erosion. They’ve been made use of to clean up oil spills by way of absorption and thus are an crucial vehicle for habitat restoration. Study has been performed with mushrooms in the battle against carpenter ant destruction it is been suggested that the use of fungi has the potential to fully revamp the pesticide market in an environmentally friendly way. There are actually hundreds of other eco-friendly applications for mushroom use, and in every single case the mushroom remains an edible by-solution. Take a appear at the Paul Stamets YouTube lecture, 6 Techniques Mushrooms Can Save The Planet.”
Mathieu and Jiménez can typically be located selling their products on weekends in the organic markets in Oaxaca. They’re both extra than satisfied to go over the nutritional value of their items which variety from naturally their fresh mushrooms, but also as preserves, marinated with either chipotle and nopal or jalapeño and cauliflower. The mushroom’s vitamin B12 cannot be located in fruits or vegetables, and accordingly a diet regime which includes fungi is incredibly critical for vegetarians who cannot get B12, most usually contained in meats. Mushrooms can very easily be a substitute for meats, with the advantage that they are not loaded with antibiotics and hormones usually discovered in industrially processed meat goods.