Did you know that Pennsylvania is the top producing mushroom state in the U.S.? The borough of Kennett Square is the historical and current leader in mushroom production (1). It focuses on growing Agaricus mushrooms, which are button mushrooms when immature and white, cremini mushrooms when immature and brown, and portobello mushrooms when mature (2). Kennet Square is only about an hour away from us, which means that there is a very good chance that the mushrooms you eat in Wismer were grown in our very own state.
Mushrooms are an environmentally sustainable food choice on campus because they are produced locally. Since local food travels shorter distances between producer and consumer, it not only looks and tastes better, it requires much fewer resources. These include transportation fuel, refrigeration, and often processing and packaging. Local food is also better for the community because more of each dollar that the consumer spends goes back to the farmer, as opposed to towards the hidden costs that come with long distance food trade (3). Fun fact: making local food choices and purchases also keeps taxes down (4)! In addition, mushroom production in general is environmentally sustainable compared to other food sources. According to System Ekofungi, "Mushroom production is the only viable, socially-acceptable, and wide-spread biotechnology to convert waste into high-quality food" (5). Mushrooms are truly unique as a sustainable food source.
You may have noticed that the grill in Wismer recently swapped out their regular black bean burger for a portobello mushroom burger as its vegetarian/vegan option. If you were turned off by this switch, I am here to turn you onto it today by providing a delicious way to order a portobello mushroom burger at the grill. And for those of you who have never substituted a mushroom for a burger, this is the perfect opportunity to try something new! I hope you enjoy!
Please feel free to provide feedback or your thoughts by commenting on this post or contacting realfoodgreenfellows@gmail.com. Thank you!
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungiculture
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agaricus_bisporus
(3) http://www.worldwatch.org/system/files/EWP163.pdf
(4) https://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/buylocal.html
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