Mico-Logica Alters Our Perception of the Magic of Mushrooms in Oaxaca, Mexico
When we believe of mushrooms and the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, the very first point which traditionally comes to thoughts is María Sabina, Huautla de Jiménez and hallucinogenic “magic” mushrooms. But slowly that’s all changing as a result of the groundbreaking work of Josefina Jiménez and Johann Mathieu in mycology, through their firm, Mico-lógica.
Primarily based in the village of Benito Juárez, located in Oaxaca’s Ixtlán district (extra typically known as the Sierra Norte, the state’s main ecotourism area), Mico-lógica’s mission is threefold: to train both Mexicans and visitors to the country in the low-expense cultivation of a wide variety of mushroom species to educate about the medicinal, nutritional and environmental (sustainable) worth of mushrooms and to conduct ongoing study regarding 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 appears like a extended way to travel,” Mathieu explained in a recent interview in Oaxaca. “But there actually wasn’t a lot of an chance to conduct research and grow a business enterprise in Western Europe,” he continues, “due to the fact reverence for mushrooms had been all but totally 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 far more than a 5 hour drive from the closest metropolitan center. Accordingly, Mathieu ultimately realized that staying in Huautla, though holding an historic allure and getting in a geographic region conducive to operating with mushrooms, would hinder his efforts to develop a small 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 working 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 business 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 1-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 more time is needed,” says Mathieu, “and with oyster mushrooms it is predominantly [but not exclusively] a course on cultivation.”
When education seminars are now only given in Benito Juárez, Mathieu and Jiménez plan to expand operations to involve each 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 primarily based on the distinct microclimate. There are about 70 sub-species of oyster mushrooms, and thus as a species, the adaptability of the oyster mushroom to unique climatic regions is outstanding. ” AMANITA MUSCARIA 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 items which would otherwise be waste, such as discard from cultivating beans, sugar cane, agave (including the fibrous waste created in mezcal distillation), peas, the widespread river reed recognized as carriso, sawdust, and the list goes on. Agricultural waste which could otherwise be left to rot or be burned, each and every with adverse environmental implications, can kind substrata for mushroom cultivation. It need to be noted, although trite, that mushroom cultivation is a very sustainable, green business. More than the past quite a few years Mexico has in fact been at the fore in several locations of sustainable sector.
Mathieu exemplifies how mushrooms can serve an arguably even greater environmental very good:
“They can hold up to thirty thousand instances their mass, getting implications for inhibiting erosion. They’ve been applied to clean up oil spills via absorption and hence are an significant vehicle for habitat restoration. Investigation has been completed with mushrooms in the battle against carpenter ant destruction it is been recommended that the use of fungi has the possible to entirely revamp the pesticide market in an environmentally friendly way. There are literally 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, 6 Strategies Mushrooms Can Save The Planet.”
Mathieu and Jiménez can frequently be located promoting their products on weekends in the organic markets in Oaxaca. They are both much more than satisfied to go over the nutritional value of their goods 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 diet program which incorporates fungi is exceptionally vital for vegetarians who cannot get B12, most normally contained in meats. Mushrooms can effortlessly be a substitute for meats, with the advantage that they are not loaded with antibiotics and hormones normally located in industrially processed meat merchandise.
