Mico-Logica Alters Our Perception of the Magic of Mushrooms in Oaxaca, Mexico
When we assume of mushrooms and the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, the 1st thing which traditionally comes to thoughts is María Sabina, Huautla de Jiménez and hallucinogenic “magic” mushrooms. But gradually that is all changing as a result of the groundbreaking operate of Josefina Jiménez and Johann Mathieu in mycology, by way of their firm, Mico-lógica.
Primarily based in the village of Benito Juárez, situated in Oaxaca’s Ixtlán district (additional commonly known as the Sierra Norte, the state’s primary ecotourism area), Mico-lógica’s mission is threefold: to train each Mexicans and visitors to the nation in the low-price cultivation of a selection of mushroom species to educate about the medicinal, nutritional and environmental (sustainable) worth of mushrooms and to conduct ongoing investigation concerning 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 long way to travel,” Mathieu explained in a current interview in Oaxaca. “But there seriously wasn’t much of an opportunity to conduct research and grow a organization in Western Europe,” he continues, “because reverence for mushrooms had been all but absolutely 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 ultimately realized that staying in Huautla, though holding an historic allure and becoming in a geographic region conducive to functioning with mushrooms, would hinder his efforts to grow a business and cultivate widespread interest in mastering 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 event. 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 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 small business, 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. Their one particular-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 required,” says Mathieu, “and with oyster mushrooms it’s predominantly [but not exclusively] a course on cultivation.”
Even though coaching seminars are now only provided in Benito Juárez, Mathieu and Jiménez program to expand operations to consist of both the central valleys and coastal regions of Oaxaca. The object is to have a network of producers growing diverse mushrooms which are optimally suited for cultivation based on the particular microclimate. There are about 70 sub-species of oyster mushrooms, and as a result as a species, the adaptability of the oyster mushroom to distinct climatic regions is remarkable. “The oyster can be grown in a multitude of different substrata, and that is what we’re experimenting with ideal now,” he elucidates. The oyster mushroom can thrive when grown on solutions which would otherwise be waste, such as discard from cultivating beans, sugar cane, agave (which includes the fibrous waste created in mezcal distillation), peas, the frequent river reed known as carriso, sawdust, and the list goes on. Agricultural waste which may otherwise be left to rot or be burned, every with adverse environmental implications, can form substrata for mushroom cultivation. It need to be noted, even though trite, that mushroom cultivation is a highly sustainable, green industry. psilocybe cubensis spore syringe than the previous numerous years Mexico has in truth been at the fore in lots of regions of sustainable market.
Mathieu exemplifies how mushrooms can serve an arguably even higher environmental excellent:
“They can hold up to thirty thousand times their mass, having implications for inhibiting erosion. They’ve been made use of to clean up oil spills by means of absorption and therefore are an essential vehicle for habitat restoration. Analysis has been accomplished with mushrooms in the battle against carpenter ant destruction it really is been recommended that the use of fungi has the potential to totally revamp the pesticide sector in an environmentally friendly way. There are literally hundreds of other eco-friendly applications for mushroom use, and in every single case the mushroom remains an edible by-solution. Take a look at the Paul Stamets YouTube lecture, 6 Strategies Mushrooms Can Save The World.”
Mathieu and Jiménez can frequently be discovered promoting their goods on weekends in the organic markets in Oaxaca. They are each additional than delighted to discuss the nutritional worth 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 cannot be located in fruits or vegetables, and accordingly a eating plan which consists of fungi is incredibly essential for vegetarians who cannot get B12, most often contained in meats. Mushrooms can conveniently be a substitute for meats, with the benefit that they are not loaded with antibiotics and hormones generally found in industrially processed meat products.