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And eat mushrooms instead of meat.
Dear Reader,
Might mushrooms save the world? That’s not as crazy a question as you might think. Which is why Dot has selected fungi as today’s Climate Champs — an acknowledgement of all the ways in which they are transforming our world, and altering our understanding of it.
Let’s start with the ways in which mushrooms are not just a food source, but also a design material.
For instance, California artist Sam Shoemaker built the world’s largest mushroom boat … and then set sail from California’s Catalina Island, paddling for 12 hours to San Pedro. His 14-foot kayak is made entirely of a single mushroom he grew outside his studio, then sealed with beeswax and shellac. Ahoy!
Are fungi in fashion? Bluedot contributor Augustina Boateng shares a story that indicates a resounding ‘yes’! Soon, we might be wearing not only mushrooms, but also algae, bacteria, even compost waste.
While most of us think of fungi as little caps on stalks, sprouting in lawns and beneath trees, those are actually just the fruits of the actual mushroom, most of which lives underground. And did you know that a single mushroom is the largest living thing on the planet? The so-called humongous fungus, aka Armillaria ostoyae, lies deep under the soil in Oregon’s Blue Mountains, spreading a distance equivalent to 1,665 football fields. And it’s not just the largest living thing on Earth but potentially the oldest — at least 2,400 years old, and possibly as ancient as 8,000 years, though scientists just discovered it in 1998. While most of it is hidden from sight underground, it occasionally sends out visible threads toward tree roots, as well as clusters of small, brown-capped, gilled mushrooms. Just a glimpse of the gargantuan life playing out beneath our feet.
Expansively,
Dot
Add mushrooms to a stir-fry, soup, tart, and more.
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