Mushroom Farms for Mexico
Donation protected
This past Tuesday, September 19th, Mexico was hit with one of the most fatal earthquakes in its history. Several dozens of buildings have collapsed in the city, hundreds of people are dead and thousands are injured.
Our first project, Embu , succesfully raised funds last week to fund the manufacturing of 200 pairs of crutches.
Our second project this week aims at creating a sustainable source of food for the 55k+ people in the country that have been left homeless. Our goal is to establish a network of urban and rural mushroom farms to sustain a network of soup kitchens over medium and long term…. But, why mushrooms?
According to Tradd Cotter , author of Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation, mushrooms can provide a very financially efficient and sustainable source of food long after the news-cycle and donors’ attention have moved elsewhere. Mushroom farming is a “low-tech way to provide a consistent source of highly nutritious food in a matter of weeks”. Mushrooms are very hardy organisms that can grow very efficiently on waste materials, of which there are plenty in a disaster zone.
"I would watch the news footage after the earthquake in Haiti, or the tsunami in Southeast Asia, and it would just eat away at me. All this devastation, all this trash, and all these hungry people. Yet to mushrooms, all that trash is food. So we could grow food, feed the hungry, clean up the environment and maybe even kickstart a new agricultural sector in the process." - Tradd Cotter
For an estimated cost of $50, we can assemble a mini-mushroom farm capable of producing up to 7,560 pounds of edible mushrooms and even more! The funds of this project will be used for:
In the short term:
- Train a core group of people that can in turn train others to cultivate mushrooms
- Establish a pilot program as mentioned in Tradd's book in Mexico City
- Establish a pilot program in one of the rural communities affected by the quake
In the medium/long-term:
- Establish an urban mushroom farm (or network of urban farms) with the purpose of a) sustainably feeding those left homeless via a weekly soup kitchen/commissary, b) train others to establish similar projects in their homes/communities
- Be prepared to deploy similar disaster relief efforts in future disaster zones within Mexico
- Teach resiliency to the Mexican population
We are currently in contact with Tradd Cotter at Mushroom Mountain and Daniel Reyes at Myco Alliance, who will be offering advice and training for our project.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you for your help!
-Hector
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ABOUT US:
BANDINI Espacio Cultural
BANDINI espacio cultural is an art gallery with restaurant and café service. A space dedicated to those that want to eat well in Mexico City and be exposed to culture: graphic culture, poetry, literary workshops, music, theatre, film... with an affordable menu from Monday to Friday. On the aftermath of the quake, BANDINI will be joining a network of other restaurants to open its doors for free as a soup kitchen some days out of the week.
Myco Alliance
Myco Alliance is developing low-tech fungi cultivation methods and testing the ability of mycelium, the vegetative part of a fungus, to degrade urban pollutants found in soil and water. At Myco Alliance our mission is to collect, preserve, and share vital information about the Fungi Kingdom for the benefit of our community and to create practical solutions to major environmental problems. We are interested in exploring what fungi may tell us about the health of the environment, how they may be able to help through Mycoremediation, and the ways in which humans have interacted with fungi over time through mushroom cultivation, medicinal use, and culinary practices.
Daniel Reyes
Daniel Reyes is a modern-day Mycologist with a background in Hydrogeology from the University of Texas at Austin. Since 2015, Daniel Reyes has been researching and presenting on the curious ways in which the fungi kingdom can help us provide a better world for tomorrow. Through his research and educational company, Myco Alliance LLC, he has taught mycological principles to over 300 participants at the Research Station, an off-the-grid research and educational center located at the Circle Acres Nature Preserve in the Montopolis neighborhood of Austin, TX. It is through his experience and passion for fungi that he has been able to collaborate with organizations like Ecology Action of Texas, Austin Youth River Watch, The Whole Life Learning Center, Austin Discovery School, The Amazon Mycorenewal Project, Radical Mycology, Mushroom Mountain, and the Telluride Mushroom Festival where he has lectured on his research in the field of mycoremediation and low-tech mushroom cultivation for 3 continuous years.
Tradd Cotter
Tradd Cotter is a microbiologist, professional mycologist, and organic gardener, who has been tissue culturing, collecting native fungi in the Southeast, and cultivating both commercially and experimentally for more than twenty-two years. In 1996 he founded Mushroom Mountain, which he owns and operates with his wife, Olga, to explore applications for mushrooms in various industries and currently maintains over 200 species of fungi for food production, mycoremediation of environmental pollutants, and natural alternatives to chemical pesticides. His primary interest is in low-tech and no-tech cultivation strategies so that anyone can grow mushrooms on just about anything, anywhere in the world. Mushroom Mountain is currently expanding to 42,000 square feet of laboratory and research space near Greenville, South Carolina, to accommodate commercial production, as well as mycoremediation projects. Tradd, Olga, and their daughter, Heidi, live in Liberty, South Carolina. Click here to see Tradd in National Geographic .
Hector Meza
I am originally from Mexico City and left 22 years ago to study abroad. Over the past five years I have worked in the tech industry as a management consultant in New York and Los Angeles. I just moved back to Mexico City this past February, enamoured by a vibrant, creative city. This campaign is one way in which I am expressing my love and gratitude to the city of my birth.
Our first project, Embu , succesfully raised funds last week to fund the manufacturing of 200 pairs of crutches.
Our second project this week aims at creating a sustainable source of food for the 55k+ people in the country that have been left homeless. Our goal is to establish a network of urban and rural mushroom farms to sustain a network of soup kitchens over medium and long term…. But, why mushrooms?
According to Tradd Cotter , author of Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation, mushrooms can provide a very financially efficient and sustainable source of food long after the news-cycle and donors’ attention have moved elsewhere. Mushroom farming is a “low-tech way to provide a consistent source of highly nutritious food in a matter of weeks”. Mushrooms are very hardy organisms that can grow very efficiently on waste materials, of which there are plenty in a disaster zone.
"I would watch the news footage after the earthquake in Haiti, or the tsunami in Southeast Asia, and it would just eat away at me. All this devastation, all this trash, and all these hungry people. Yet to mushrooms, all that trash is food. So we could grow food, feed the hungry, clean up the environment and maybe even kickstart a new agricultural sector in the process." - Tradd Cotter
For an estimated cost of $50, we can assemble a mini-mushroom farm capable of producing up to 7,560 pounds of edible mushrooms and even more! The funds of this project will be used for:
In the short term:
- Train a core group of people that can in turn train others to cultivate mushrooms
- Establish a pilot program as mentioned in Tradd's book in Mexico City
- Establish a pilot program in one of the rural communities affected by the quake
In the medium/long-term:
- Establish an urban mushroom farm (or network of urban farms) with the purpose of a) sustainably feeding those left homeless via a weekly soup kitchen/commissary, b) train others to establish similar projects in their homes/communities
- Be prepared to deploy similar disaster relief efforts in future disaster zones within Mexico
- Teach resiliency to the Mexican population
We are currently in contact with Tradd Cotter at Mushroom Mountain and Daniel Reyes at Myco Alliance, who will be offering advice and training for our project.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you for your help!
-Hector
---
ABOUT US:
BANDINI Espacio Cultural
BANDINI espacio cultural is an art gallery with restaurant and café service. A space dedicated to those that want to eat well in Mexico City and be exposed to culture: graphic culture, poetry, literary workshops, music, theatre, film... with an affordable menu from Monday to Friday. On the aftermath of the quake, BANDINI will be joining a network of other restaurants to open its doors for free as a soup kitchen some days out of the week.
Myco Alliance
Myco Alliance is developing low-tech fungi cultivation methods and testing the ability of mycelium, the vegetative part of a fungus, to degrade urban pollutants found in soil and water. At Myco Alliance our mission is to collect, preserve, and share vital information about the Fungi Kingdom for the benefit of our community and to create practical solutions to major environmental problems. We are interested in exploring what fungi may tell us about the health of the environment, how they may be able to help through Mycoremediation, and the ways in which humans have interacted with fungi over time through mushroom cultivation, medicinal use, and culinary practices.
Daniel Reyes
Daniel Reyes is a modern-day Mycologist with a background in Hydrogeology from the University of Texas at Austin. Since 2015, Daniel Reyes has been researching and presenting on the curious ways in which the fungi kingdom can help us provide a better world for tomorrow. Through his research and educational company, Myco Alliance LLC, he has taught mycological principles to over 300 participants at the Research Station, an off-the-grid research and educational center located at the Circle Acres Nature Preserve in the Montopolis neighborhood of Austin, TX. It is through his experience and passion for fungi that he has been able to collaborate with organizations like Ecology Action of Texas, Austin Youth River Watch, The Whole Life Learning Center, Austin Discovery School, The Amazon Mycorenewal Project, Radical Mycology, Mushroom Mountain, and the Telluride Mushroom Festival where he has lectured on his research in the field of mycoremediation and low-tech mushroom cultivation for 3 continuous years.
Tradd Cotter
Tradd Cotter is a microbiologist, professional mycologist, and organic gardener, who has been tissue culturing, collecting native fungi in the Southeast, and cultivating both commercially and experimentally for more than twenty-two years. In 1996 he founded Mushroom Mountain, which he owns and operates with his wife, Olga, to explore applications for mushrooms in various industries and currently maintains over 200 species of fungi for food production, mycoremediation of environmental pollutants, and natural alternatives to chemical pesticides. His primary interest is in low-tech and no-tech cultivation strategies so that anyone can grow mushrooms on just about anything, anywhere in the world. Mushroom Mountain is currently expanding to 42,000 square feet of laboratory and research space near Greenville, South Carolina, to accommodate commercial production, as well as mycoremediation projects. Tradd, Olga, and their daughter, Heidi, live in Liberty, South Carolina. Click here to see Tradd in National Geographic .
Hector Meza
I am originally from Mexico City and left 22 years ago to study abroad. Over the past five years I have worked in the tech industry as a management consultant in New York and Los Angeles. I just moved back to Mexico City this past February, enamoured by a vibrant, creative city. This campaign is one way in which I am expressing my love and gratitude to the city of my birth.
Organizer
Hector Eduardo Meza
Organizer
Insurgentes San Borja, City, CDMX
