When we consider of mushrooms and the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, the very first factor which traditionally comes to thoughts is María Sabina, Huautla de Jiménez and hallucinogenic "magic" mushrooms. But gradually that's all changing as a outcome of the groundbreaking operate of Josefina Jiménez and Johann Mathieu in mycology, by way of their business, Mico-lógica.
Primarily based in the village of Benito Juárez, located in Oaxaca's Ixtlán district (a lot more frequently recognized as the Sierra Norte, the state's principal ecotourism region), Mico-lógica's mission is threefold: to train both Mexicans and guests to the nation in the low-cost cultivation of a wide variety 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 truth to Huautla de Jiménez, in 2005. "Yes, coming all the way to Mexico from France to pursue my interest in mushrooms appears like a extended way to travel," Mathieu explained in a current interview in Oaxaca. "But there seriously wasn't substantially of an opportunity to conduct studies and grow a small business in Western Europe," he continues, "due to the fact reverence for mushrooms had been all but entirely eradicated by The Church more than the course of centuries and I discovered that Mexico still maintains a respect and appreciation for the medicinal and nutritional value of hongos. Mexico is far from mycophobic."
Huautla de Jiménez is much more than a 5 hour drive from the closest metropolitan center. Accordingly, Mathieu sooner or later realized that staying in Huautla, whilst holding an historic allure and getting in a geographic region conducive to operating with mushrooms, would hinder his efforts to develop a business enterprise 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 certainly 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 area 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 three mushroom species in their hands-on seminars oyster (seta), shitake and reishi. Mushrooms chocolate bar -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 utilizes of mushrooms, so more time is necessary," says Mathieu, "and with oyster mushrooms it's predominantly [but not exclusively] a course on cultivation."
Whilst coaching seminars are now only given in Benito Juárez, Mathieu and Jiménez program to expand operations to involve both the central valleys and coastal regions of Oaxaca. The object is to have a network of producers growing unique mushrooms which are optimally suited for cultivation based on the unique microclimate. There are about 70 sub-species of oyster mushrooms, and as a result as a species, the adaptability of the oyster mushroom to different climatic regions is outstanding. "The oyster can be grown in a multitude of distinct substrata, and that is what we're experimenting with proper 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 (which includes the fibrous waste made in mezcal distillation), peas, the prevalent river reed recognized as carriso, sawdust, and the list goes on. Agricultural waste which might otherwise be left to rot or be burned, every with adverse environmental implications, can type substrata for mushroom cultivation. It should be noted, although trite, that mushroom cultivation is a extremely sustainable, green business. More than the past several years Mexico has in truth been at the fore in quite a few places of sustainable market.
Mathieu exemplifies how mushrooms can serve an arguably even greater environmental fantastic:
"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 means of absorption and thus are an important car for habitat restoration. Investigation has been completed with mushrooms in the battle against carpenter ant destruction it is been suggested that the use of fungi has the possible to entirely revamp the pesticide market in an environmentally friendly way. There are actually hundreds of other eco-friendly applications for mushroom use, and in each and every case the mushroom remains an edible by-item. Take a look at the Paul Stamets YouTube lecture, six Ways Mushrooms Can Save The Globe."
Mathieu and Jiménez can normally be located promoting their solutions on weekends in the organic markets in Oaxaca. They're each a lot more than pleased 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't be found in fruits or vegetables, and accordingly a diet plan which includes fungi is very important for vegetarians who can't get B12, most normally contained in meats. Mushrooms can effortlessly be a substitute for meats, with the benefit that they are not loaded with antibiotics and hormones generally discovered in industrially processed meat solutions.