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The Mushroom Hour Podcast

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Oct 30, 2020 • 1h 27min

Ep. 50: Return to Nature - Herbalism, Rewilding & Overgrowing the System (feat. Dan De Lion)

Today on Mushroom Hour we are joined by Dan de Lion of Return to Nature. The mission of Return to Nature is to provide a safe and healing teaching bridge for individuals and communities to recognize Nature as a continual and abundant provider of nourishment, medicine, food, and sacred connection, and to help reconnect the perception that Nature is the very source of our sustenance as humans. By teaching about the edible and medicinal aspects of wild plants, medicinal herbs, and mushrooms, Dan aims to help move humanity towards a Nature appreciation based paradigm which inspires people to forage, wildcraft, create tools for survival and primitive art, treat their own ailments with what nature provides, and get a little probiotic dirt under their fingernails. Engaging with Nature and tapping into ancient and sacred ways to directly carve our intuitive practice and reawaken a self-reliant depth within that seems so lost in today’s society. Once we recognize and reclaim our oneness with Nature and look around with new eyes we realize an ever present bounty Mother Nature provides and we just may see that we have never left Eden.  Topics Covered:  The Origin Story of Dan De Lion  Herbalism - Medicines & Food All Around Us  Reductionism vs Systems Thinking  Interconnectedness & Correspondence - As Above, So Below  Rewilding - Genetic Memory, Instinct and Pattern Recognition  Social Alchemy  Rise of the Machines & Transhumanism  Biomimicry  Psychedelics at Society’s Crossroads  Localize and Overgrow the System  Benevolent Activism  Internet Freedom  The Global Elite  The Power of Ritual  Autumn Olives, Garlic Mustard, Plantago  Return to Nature Classes and Future Plans  Episode Resources:   Return to Nature Website: http://returntonature.us/   Return to Nature IG: https://www.instagram.com/returntonature/   Alan Watts: https://www.alanwatts.org/   Terence McKenna: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_McKenna   Manly P. Hall: https://www.prs.org/manly-p-hall.html   Lactarius Volemus (Mushroom): https://www.mushroomexpert.com/lactarius_volemus.html   Lactarius Corrugis (Mushroom): https://www.mushroomexpert.com/lactarius_corrugis.html   Lactarius Hygrophoroides (Mushroom): https://www.mushroomexpert.com/lactarius_hygrophoroides.html   
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Oct 26, 2020 • 1h 58min

Ep. 49: Changing the Narrative - Reclaiming Ecological, Economic, Social and Political Power (feat. Antonio Cosme)

Antonio Cosme is an indigenous (Coahuiltecan and Boricua) writer, public speaker, entrepreneur, radical economist, educator, artist, beekeeper and farmer from Southwest, Detroit. Much of his work has been dedicated to lecturing, writing, and acting in opposition to the neoliberal assault on Detroit and water. Antonio has a unique gift for connecting social movements with struggles for land reclamation and intersectional environmental justice.   Setting down in urban SW Detroit, our guide Antonio helps us clear the mists of our historical amnesia. We face the genocide and removal of indigenous people from the land and how that is directly connected with the degradation of Michigan's environment and clear-cutting of old growth forests. That foundation of injustice shaped how a land evolved and we find the mentality echoed throughout Michigan's history right up to the incredible loss of civic rights for black and brown communities after the 2008 financial crisis. Through experience in local politics, Antonio found he could have the most impact in addressing the repercussions of these social, economic and political forces as a community organizer.   In wrestling with massive issues, Antonio sought replenishment through a relationship with nature and the land. In creating an urban farm from derelict properties stolen by banks, he found a powerful ally in mushrooms. As he began cultivating and foraging for fungi, he recognized their ability to heal soil, but also heal people. Through projects like Black to the Land and his work with the National Wildlife Federation, he is exposing children from inner city Detroit to the power of natural spaces. While it can be hard to mobilize POC communities who are the most impacted by urban pollution, he hopes by having people fall in love with nature they can take up their rightful place on the front lines of championing environmental justice.   Wading through more and more examples of systemic inequality, we have to ask - can the US political system actually offer lasting solutions when it comes to making positive environmental, social and economic change? What Antonio proposes is a continued effort from the grassroots and local government level on up to shift our cultural narratives around economics, environment, land and US history. By escaping the polarizing political party lines, we can find a populist common ground and collectively dictate a new path centered on fundamental human values like access to clean food and water, access to nature, access to education, access to land, and access to meaningful work.   Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour (@welcome_to_mushroom_hour)  Music by: Ancient Baby (https://peckthetowncrier.bandcamp.com/)   Art by: Wyn Di Stefano (http://www.wyndistefano.com/)   Episode Resources   Antonio Cosme IG: https://www.instagram.com/swdetroitjesus/  The Soul of Soil (book): https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Soil-Soil-Building-Gardeners-Farmers/dp/1890132314  The Entrepreneurial State (book): https://www.amazon.com/Entrepreneurial-State-Debunking-Public-Private/dp/1610396138Hajoon Chang (economist): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha-Joon_ChangRyan Gates (inspiration): https://www.instagram.com/terrestrialfungi/
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Oct 23, 2020 • 1h 51min

Ep. 48 - Embracing the Land, Facing Colonialism and Honoring Indigenous Culture (feat. Amber of Moon Mountain)

Today on Mushroom Hour we are grateful for the opportunity to speak with Amber, one of the founders of Moon Mountain. Moon Mountain is a 40-acre biodynamic farm, wild food refuge and all-around sacred space located in the beautiful Michigan wilderness among some of the oldest mountains in the world. This compound functions as a demonstration site for regenerative agricultural practices and serves as a “hands on” medicinal plant classroom for their rural community.   We venture to those untamed wilds of Upper Penninsula of Michigan and hold space with our gracious host Amber. Today, the combination permaculture farm and wild-food forest she manages with partner Ryan is impressive, but it was a future that she did not quite envision. In creating this sanctuary, they both had to address their centers of alienation, leaving behind some of the traditional values of modern society. They followed a lifepath that resonated most clearly with heart and mind - honoring the mystery of what it would become along the way.   Alongside their ongoing explorations of ancient land-based practices like polyculture, agroforestry, lunar observation, crop rotations and water harvesting, Amber takes us into the deep forests of the Huron mountains to share in a rich bounty of edible mushrooms. Her work with fungi has taught her to slow down, listen to nature and understand the cycles of the environment around her.    In exploring this deep communion with the forest and the land, those of us who are European-American run into a deep-seated anxiety. How do we develop an authentic relationship with land that was stolen? How do we acknowledge and authentically support the indigenous communities that were displaced and then dispossessed of these "wild" spaces? In a modern context, is reconciliation possible between European and non-European communities in the US given histories of systemic imbalance? Amber offers her deep work around this subject and acknowledges that her path may not be for everyone. She outlines a process of moving through our fear and anxiety, learning about and showing up to support indigenous and POC communities and expanding into stages of personal growth that will cascade into restructuring unequal systems. And while these topics can be isolating, we need to have more open conversations, face the issues and leave behind the vestiges of colonial culture.   Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour (@welcome_to_mushroom_hour)  Music by: Ancient Baby (https://peckthetowncrier.bandcamp.com/)   Art by: Wyn Di Stefano (http://www.wyndistefano.com/)   Episode Resources   Moon Mountain Website: https://moonmtn.com    Moon Mountain Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moonmtn.mi/    Freedom House Farm (Inspiration): https://www.facebook.com/freedomhousefarm  Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz - Indigenous People's History of the US (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Indigenous-Peoples-History-ReVisioning-American/dp/0807057835   Linda Black Elk (Inspiration): https://www.wisdomhub.tv/linda-black-elk   Braiding Sweetgrass (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Braiding-Sweetgrass-Indigenous-Scientific-Knowledge/dp/1571313567   
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Oct 18, 2020 • 1h 30min

Ep. 47 - Bioluminescent Mushrooms, Psilocybe of Mexico and the Power of Citizen Mycology (feat. Alan Rockefeller)

Today on Mushroom Hour we are blessed to speak with our very special guest Alan Rockefeller. Alan is a mycologist who has undertaken extensive field and lab research on the mushrooms of California and Mexico. He has been collecting mushrooms for 17+ years and has focused on the taxonomy and photography of Mexican mushrooms for the past 11+ years.   Our epic journey brings us back to the dawn of the new millennium when a young Alan Rockefeller first became spellbound by fungi. A few years into his mycology explorations, he had a chance encounter on shroomery.org with a biologist in Mexico who was posting amazing fungal finds. Alan made a connection and began traveling to Mexico each year to seek out rare fungi.   Since he began these adventures, he has played a central role in mapping fungal diversity throughout different climate ranges in Mexico. This includes some of the most in-depth field observations in the world when it comes to those incredible bioluminescent and infamous psilocybin containing fungi. We'll cover it all - how bioluminescence occurs in biology, the evolutionary significance of bioluminescent enzymes and psilocybin compounds in fungi and how Alan goes about finding the rarest varieties of these fascinating organisms.   The epitome of the self-taught naturalist and citizen scientist we'll learn the secrets of how Alan gained his vast taxonomic knowledge. Just "showing up" and pursuing his interests he has been able to collaborate with leading academics in the field of mycology. Alan then reveals how we can all contribute to the science of mycology by making good observations in the field and cataloging them effectively for posterity. We get a masterclass on cataloging field finds including how to take good photos in the field, record relevant observations, preserve dried specimens and even how we can sequence the genome of our fungal finds. This is an incredible opportunity to soak up wisdom and experience from a legend in the field of citizen mycology.   Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour (@welcome_to_mushroom_hour) Music by: Ancient Baby (https://peckthetowncrier.bandcamp.com/)  Art by: Wyn Di Stefano (http://www.wyndistefano.com/)  Episode ResourcesAlan Rockefeller FB: https://www.facebook.com/alan.rockefeller  Alan Rockefeller IG: https://www.instagram.com/alan_rockefeller/  New Bioluminescent Mushrooms in Mexico (Article): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331996064_New_species_and_records_of_bioluminescent_Mycena_from_Mexico  Alvalabs (Resource): http://alvalab.es/  Shroomery.org (Resource): https://shroomery.org  Mycena Perlae 🍄: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/981470-Mycena-perlae  Panellus stipticus 🍄: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panellus_stipticus  Neonothopanus Gardneri 🍄: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonothopanus_gardneri  Psilocybe moseri 🍄: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybe_moseri  Lepitoa Trichroma 🍄: https://mushroomobserver.org/104595?q=1VIoQ  
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Oct 14, 2020 • 1h 8min

Ep. 46: Modern Foragers - Foraging, Cooking and Preserving Wild Mushrooms (feat. Kristen and Trent Blizzard)

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the glorious opportunity to speak with Kristen and Trent Blizzard from Modern Forager. This fungal dynamic duo started out as online marketers who turned a love of mushroom adventures into a calling, a community and an obsession. Our mushroom hunting caravan makes it's first stop in the Midwest where Kristen and Trent grew up exploring nature and hunting those infamous Midwestern morel mushrooms. Once they found each other, they quickly found their mushroom foraging skills grow along with their relationship. They now travel across the US with their camper in tow, charting their calendar to follow the mushroom seasons. As we tag along for their journey, we'll meet amazing new friends and connect with foraging communities every step of the way.During the foraging tour, a deeply ingrained passion for morels comes to the fore as we follow the couple's camper through the winding roads of the Western United States chasing wild fires. Our tech-savvy guides have crafted highly-detailed burn morel maps for almost every state in the Western US by collating wildfire perimeter data, satellite imagery and forest service road maps. Even with all of this data, how do they screen and predict which burns will yield morels? What kind of success rates can foragers have with the aid of these maps?Cruising across the country and filling out bags and buckets with mushrooms is great, but now what do we do with all of our fungal treasures? Trent and Kristen have us covered with creative preservation techniques and amazing recipes from their new book "Wild Mushrooms: A Cookbook and Foraging Guide". Organized around 15 species of edible mushrooms, the book shares not only amazing recipes and preservation techniques, but also the stories of 25 foragers whose knowledge graces the pages of their work. This book was a labor of love for the couple who were completely new to writing! What was it like to achieve this massive undertaking and what is next for these modern foragers?Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour(@welcome_to_mushroom_hour)Music by: Ancient Baby (https://peckthetowncrier.bandcamp.com/)Art by: Wyn Di Stefano (http://www.wyndistefano.com/)Episode ResourcesModern Forager Website: https://www.modern-forager.com/Modern Forager IG: https://www.instagram.com/modernforager/Burn Morel Maps: https://www.modern-forager.com/burn-morels/Wild Mushrooms: A Cookbook and Foraging Guide (Book): https://shop.modern-forager.com/products/pre-order-wild-mushrooms-a-cookbook-and-foraging-guide-author-signed-copy
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Oct 9, 2020 • 1h 4min

Ep. 45: Meati - The Fungal Future of Food (feat. Tyler Huggins & Justin Whiteley)

Today we are excited to chat with Tyler Huggins and Justin Whiteley – cutting-edge food pioneers and founders of Meati, a fungi-based protein company. Meati's mission is to help provide the world with nutritious protein with minimally-processed, fungi-based meats with superfood-level nutrition that don’t compromise on taste or sustainability. Tyler and Justin believe that finding the right protein should be easy and consumers should never have to choose between health, taste, or the environment.The story of Meati begins with two PhD students at the University of Colorado sharing a beer. Tyler was studying civil and environmental engineering, and Justin was in mechanical engineering. They shared a passion for helping people and the planet through engineering and science. Their first project together used fungi to produce battery electrodes and they ended up exploring loads of different applications of fungi as a manufacturing material. In their explorations of how to solve the world's problems using fungi, they realized one of the greatest potentials for a big, positive impact was to be found by focusing on food.As it becomes apparent that feeding the world with animal-based proteins is unsustainable, their vision coalesced around the idea of a textured protein product made of mycelium. We learn that Tyler and Justin's vision is to create a true meat product that will actually be superior to animal-based meat in all the major categories: texture, flavor, nutrition and sustainability. Visiting the production floor, we get up close and personal with how Meati grows and shapes a unique strain of mycelium into the future of meat. How do they achieve the texture and flavor profiles chicken, beef and anything else they choose? How is it possible that their mycelium meat contains more protein than beef along with loads of fiber and a daily serving of vitamin B-12?!Looking to the future, it becomes clear this duo has big plans for Meati. The production process they've engineered for creating their products is geographically agnostic, meaning you could set up fungal food factories anywhere in the world. That kind of production flexibilty combined with the exponential growth potential of mycelium hints at the possibility of a Meati empire that could span the globe. But how did these entrepreneurs get their start? And how close are we really to seeing a world fed by Meati?  Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour(@welcome_to_mushroom_hour)Music by: Ancient Baby (https://peckthetowncrier.bandcamp.com/)Art by: Wyn Di Stefano (http://www.wyndistefano.com/)Episode ResourcesMeati Website: https://meati.com/ Meati IG: https://www.instagram.com/meatifoods/Chanterelle (Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChanterellePuffball (Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffball
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Oct 5, 2020 • 1h 34min

Ep. 44: Medicinal Mushrooms - The Human Clinical Trials (feat. Robert Rogers)

Robert Dale Rogers has been an herbalist for over forty-five years, and is a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild. He earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Alberta, where he is presently an assistant clinical professor in Family Medicine. He teaches plant medicine, including plant and mushroom medicine, aromatherapy and flower essences in the Earth Spirit Medicine faculty at the Northern Star College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He is a Fellow of the International College of Nutrition, past chair of the medicinal mushroom committee of the North American Mycological Association, and previously served on the editorial board of the International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms. Robert Rogers discovered herbalism and the power of plant medicines as an enthusiastic botanist living in a hippy enclave in Alberta, Canada. He was struck with how little he knew about the plants and fungi he was discovering in the Great White North. He was blessed to learn from indigenous experts about the medicinal properties of these plants and mushrooms in the boreal forest. He then took this knowledge and applied it to family medicine, running a clinical practice for over 20 years. In the effort to share knowledge of herbalism with the masses, he has published 56 books, including the incredible "Fungal Pharmacy: The Complete Guide to Medicinal Mushrooms and Lichens of North America". In our chat, Robert demystifies the medicinal powers of fungi and lays out the facts about specific medicinal mushrooms and their properties. We've all heard about immune-boosting properties and anti-cancer properties in medicinal mushroom varieties, but what does that really mean? What are the compounds that are responsible for these properties? How do these compounds like beta glucans and triterpenes actually work in our bodies? In our explorations, we even enter the mycelium vs. fruit-body debate and reach insights that are different than you might expect. Learning about emerging models of holistic medicine, we dive into Robert's newest book, "Medicinal Mushrooms: The Human Clinical Trials". His impetus for writing the book was simple - provide the facts and information about the research on medicinal mushrooms. Both for consumers and for medical professionals who may have dismissed the actual potential of medicinal fungi without examining the full body of double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, human clinical trials. The evidence in this book is extremely compelling and offers hope for a future where these medicines are more thoroughly understood so as to be formulated into more potent natural medicines and applied for the highest good.Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour(@welcome_to_mushroom_hour) Music by: Ancient Baby (https://peckthetowncrier.bandcamp.com/) Art by: Wyn Di Stefano (http://www.wyndistefano.com/) Episode ResourcesRobert Rogers Website: https://selfhealdistributing.com/Medicinal Mushrooms - The Human Clinical Trials (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Medicinal-Mushrooms-Human-Clinical-Trials/dp/B088W2458GWolfiporia extensa (Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfiporia_extensaAntrodia (Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AntrodiaTarnished Gold (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Tarnished-Gold-Sickness-Evidence-based-Medicine/dp/1466397292
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Sep 30, 2020 • 1h 11min

Ep. 43: Lorelle Morel - Forest Biology, Fire Ecology and an Obsession with Wild Foods (feat. Lorelle Sherman)

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the amazing opportunity to interview Lorelle Sherman. Lorelle is an accomplished field naturalist who has studied flora, fauna and funga of diverse ecosystems across the US. She received her BS in Forest and Wildlife Biology from the University of Vermont and received her Masters Degree in Forest Ecology at Oregon State University.  In the wilds near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we find a young Lorelle bounding across neighbors' yards to sneak away to the nearest woodland. She found a calling at the University of Vermont to explore nature and its wildlife more deeply and to share her passion with others. She would return after her college years to work with the Western PA Conservancy and become an environmental educator. What are some effective methods she has learned to communicate environmental information and inspire others to learn more about the natural world?  Pursuing a Masters degree in forest ecology, Lorelle made her way to Oregon in the Pacific Northwest. Along with studying flora, fauna and funga interconnections in the forest, Lorelle has researched the tremendous importance of forest fires. Forests like the Cascade forests she has researched in the Pacific Northwest introduce us to the concept of fire-dependent ecosystems. There are plants and fungi that have evolved to rely on forest fires to reproduce and there are even birds that rely on fires to thrive! Applying this knowledge, we ask hard questions like, is human management necessary in forest ecosystems or is it best to leave it alone? Are prescribed fires a neglected tool that can help prevent more disastrous forest fires?  Lorelle's deep passion for nature has always involved wild foods. Foraging has evolved from a teenage hobby, to leading groups at college, to now teaching others about wild food at the Wildcraft Studio in Portland Oregon. She believes everyone should be empowered to supplement their diet with wild foods from nature, so long as we remember the importance of sustainability. We'll learn about her new wild food business and how she is blending her passions to forge her own path into the forest.  Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour(@welcome_to_mushroom_hour)  Music by: Ancient Baby (https://peckthetowncrier.bandcamp.com/)  Art by: Wyn Di Stefano (http://www.wyndistefano.com/)  Episode Resources   Lorelle Morel (Website): http://www.lorellemorel.com/  Lorelle Morel (IG): https://www.instagram.com/lorellemorel/  Western Pennsylvania Conservancy: https://waterlandlife.org/  "Edible Wild Plants" by John Kallas (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Edible-Wild-Plants-Foods-Adventure/dp/1423601505  "Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast" by Jim Pojar (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Plants-Pacific-Northwest-Coast-Pojar/dp/1772130087  WildCraft Studio: https://wildcraftstudioschool.com/  Rhizopogon (Fungi): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhizopogon  Shaggy Mane (Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprinus_comatus
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Sep 25, 2020 • 57min

Ep. 42: Red Glasses - England's Godfather of Mushrooms and Worldwide Forager (feat. Roger Phillips)

Today on Mushroom Hour we are honored to speak with our distinguished, bespectacled guest Roger Phillips. Roger is a natural nonconformist and a legendary godfather of foraging in the UK. Drawing upon decades of experience, his knowledge of wild food is unrivaled. Known as “Mr Mushrooms” he is an expert mycologist, renowned for his work tracking and recording more than 1,600 species of fungi in North America and Europe. Considered a pioneer in the use of photography for documenting and identifying mushrooms, he has written numerous guide books and resource materials.Let's take a trip across the Atlantic, and back in time, over to the UK isles to find Roger Phillips at just 8 years old hunting wild nettles and bucket loads of mushrooms. His younger years saw him join the air force, work with a major advertising firm and eventually find his way to photography. As his obsession with documenting nature took hold, Roger began writing his own botanical guidebooks to European plants and mushrooms, and in so doing, was an early pioneer of the use of photography, in lieu of drawings, in his guides.Roger reflects on the mycophobia that is deeply entrenched in British culture, but also how that is starting to change. There is a rich wild food tradition and has always been an incomparable love of gardening amongst the British people. Roger sees all of these traditions as connected, with gardening and foraging being disciplines that most people innately recognize as "moral" and "good".Exploring his newest book, "The Worldwide Forager" we end up traveling all over the planet to learn about wild foods across cultures. Roger has a deep interest in First Nation Peoples in the Americas. Through his research on the wild food history of the Nez Pearce we learn about the consumption of wild camas bulbs. How much can we learn from First Nation peoples about wild foods and sustainable gardening? When it comes to mushrooms, we visit Italy to marvel at the oft underappreciated Caesar's amanita and Roger regales us with the story of how it may have been involved in a plot that brought down a Roman Emperor! As our conversation winds down, we glimpse a future where cross-cultural sharing of wild food traditions leads to a more sustainable, more nutritious and scrummier future!Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour(@welcome_to_mushroom_hour)   Music by: Lyla Foy (https://www.lylafoy.co.uk/)   Art by: Wyn Di Stefano (http://www.wyndistefano.com/)    Episode Resources   Roger Phillips Website: http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/   Roger Phillips IG: https://www.instagram.com/rogerphillips_redglasses/   Worldwide Forager (Book): https://unbound.com/books/the-worldwide-forager/   Nez Perce (Indigenous Tribe): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nez_Perce_people   Amanita Caesarea (Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_caesarea   Craterellus Cornucopioides(Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craterellus_cornucopioides
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Sep 23, 2020 • 1h 21min

Ep. 41: Edulis Wild Foods - Foraging Mushrooms and Restoring Vital Connection in the UK Isles (feat. Lisa Cutcliffe)

Today on Mushroom Hour we are excited to sit down and chat with Lisa Cutcliffe from Leeds, Yorkshire in the UK. Lisa is the founder, foraging-guide-in-chief and all-round mushroom-nut at Edulis Wild Foods. With a degree in biology, being a keen gardener, veg grower, and having a lifelong fascination with nature and wildlife, she is interested in all aspects of wild food and medicinals.   As we explore the wilds of Leeds in England, we find a younger Lisa poking around the woods between classes at university. Her curiosity about using edible mushrooms in cooking led her down a pre-Internet road of discovery, seeking out information about mysterious kingdom fungi. It was the quest for her first porcini that brought her from Leeds to the "New Forest" in the South of England and set her down the path of edible mushrooms and wild food.   Her love of mushrooms branched out into a love of plant foraging as she was determined to find edible foods across every season. Her journey came to a traumatic inflection point as a diving accident damaged her back and crippled her ability to go abroad and engage in the physical activity that was her passion. However, the regeneration from this experience pushed her to explore the UK Isles and rediscover herself, open up her love of wild foods and connect with an incredible community of wild mushroom and plant enthusiasts across the UK. How can foraging be used as a form of physical and emotional therapy to help us recover from trauma?   Pursuing her passion for wild foods more intensively, Lisa felt the call to "find the others"! After connecting with and learning alongside other UK wild food experts, she became a founding member of the Association of Foragers - a network that provides collective support for professional foragers guided by an ethos of "Restoring Vital Connection". This influence and the community she was now a part of inspired Lisa to create her own wild foods business - Edulis Wild Foods.   We'll take a walk in the shoes of a professional foraging educator and learn keen insights about the responsibility and realities of such a path. How do you know when you're ready to start teaching others? How does one balance a day job with the commitment to being a professional educator? For Lisa the most satisfying part of sharing her love of wild foods is seeing her students reconnect with nature and remember the ancestral connection they have to their land.   Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour(@welcome_to_mushroom_hour)   Music by: Ancient Baby (https://peckthetowncrier.bandcamp.com/)   Art by: Wyn Di Stefano (http://www.wyndistefano.com/)   Episode ResourcesEdulis Wild Foods (website): http://www.eduliswildfood.co.uk/   Lisa Cutcliffe (IG): https://www.instagram.com/eduliswildfood/   Association of Foragers (UK): https://foragers-association.org/   Craterellus cornucopioides (mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craterellus_cornucopioides   Chlorociboria aeruginascens (mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorociboria_aeruginascens   

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