AGRICULTURAL ECO-HAVEN
You've heard the term "sustainable agriculture." You may also have heardthe terms "minimum tillage," and "low impact farming." By now, everyone hasheard of organic farming.
In general these terms reflect a real and growing concern amongknowledgeable people about the future of "agribusiness" and its impact onour planet. We're cutting down trees at the rate of hundreds of acresdaily, then tearing up the soil with plows and saturating it withfertilizer and pesticides.
There are few sights in the world more bucolic than a pasture full of cowsor sheep peacefully chewing on their cuds. Behind that peaceful sight,though, is a chain of events that is far from peaceful. It includesthousands of acres of land cleared and planted in grain, sprayed to killthe insects, sprayed to kill the weeds, and sprayed to provide it with thenutrients that may originally have been plentiful in the soil, but whichhave long since run off and leached out. In many parts of the world, thesoil itself bears little resemblance to the hefty loam that was there inthe first place.
And then there is the mushroom. The wild mushroom, more specifically. Thereare many varieties of them, and they grow in abundance here and therethroughout the world, often in spots known only to a few knowledgeable"shroomers."
And what is a mushroom, really?
Actually, the part you see above the ground is only a small part of themushroom. Underground there is a web-like network of fibers, called themycelium, which are the real "plant." The part of the mushroom that we seeis roughly equivalent to the apple on a tree. When we pick it, the plantitself is undisturbed, in the same way that a fruit tree is undisturbedwhen we pick fruit.
In addition, wild mushrooms don't need to be sprayed, plowed, weeded oreven planted. They find and make their own way in wild places, among wildthings. If we are lucky enough to stumble across them, they make adelicious meal. Sautéed in butter or olive oil with a bit of garlic oronion, they have a wild and woodsy flavor which is difficult to describe.
And what is the impact of all this on our planet?
Assuming that the mushroom hunter has been respectful of the surroundings,then the impact is zero. Picking a mushroom is no more harmful to naturethan picking an apple from a tree, or a nut from the ground.
There are, in fact, people who travel from spot to spot throughout theU.S., finding, harvesting, and selling wild mushrooms to brokers. They arean unlikely lot, and include among themselves a sweeping variety ofdifferent backgrounds, languages, and nationalities. They have a vestedinterest in maintaining the earth in a way which is compatible with nature.Taken as a whole, they rarely make much more money than is required to meettheir expenses. They lead a nomadic life, close to the earth, and areknowledgeable about mushrooms in ways that the average botany professormight well envy.
There are those among us who may look askance at the heaps of fruit andvegetables in our produce departments, or at the neat and sanitary rows ofpackaged lamb, beef, pork, and chicken at the butcher counter. In back ofthose gleaming golden heaps of oranges and tomatoes is nearly always ahistory of high-impact farming. Best not even be thinking about theslaughterhouses and rendering plants where those peacefully cud-chewingsheep and cattle nearly always end up.
But you may look in peace upon the humble mushroom, especially if it is awild mushroom - found on the forest floor amid a tumble of leaves andtwigs. Surely this is true "sustainable agriculture." Surely this bringsnew meaning to the term "minimum tillage."
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Written by: Edie Clark, Earthy Delights. Earthy Delights is committed toworking with foragers who are sensitive to the need to maintain theenvironment for future generations. We provide quality wildharvested products for those who can not go into the woods themselves.While specialists in Wild Harvest foods, we continue to build our line ofdomestic and imported goods.
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