Fungi and Sustainability Ron Spinosa*

Fungi and Sustainability Ron Spinosa* Fungi . are the primary governors of ecological equilibrium. with which it formerly had no more than a nodding acquaintance. Paul Stamets, Mycelium Running “Sustainable development,” for example, has been with us for some time, but more recent pairings are now commonplace: sustain- Abstract able agriculture, sustainable design, sustainable energy, sustain- The concept of “sustainability” is becoming ever more prominent able tourism, and sustainable living, to name a few. I’m sure you in almost every area of human affairs, from individual households will come across the word at least once today. to the planet Earth itself. A brief history of the development of The more this word appears in the current media, the more the concept of sustainability and its implementation is presented. familiar we all become with the ideas behind it, and the more it The United Nation’s Earth Summits have been especially impor- reflects the growing shift in the way we view our relationship to tant in creating programs to promote sustainable development in the earth and all its species. It is the foundation of the Green response to the global crisis that has resulted from a century of Movement, for example. It represents one aspect of this shift of exploitation of the Earth’s resources and exponential human popu- perspective and emphasizes the value of ecological preservation, lation growth. Fungi can play a significant role in the pursuit of maximization of biodiversity, and empowerment of local com- sustainability. For example, mushroom cultivation may be inte- munities. grated into schemes for recycling agricultural waste as well as Ever since the Apollo missions gave us images on our TV providing nutrition and income for peoples living in developing screens of the pretty blue marble in space, the fact that we are all nations. Fungi are essential for the health and sustainability of passengers on “spaceship earth” has been dramatically impressed terrestrial ecosystems. In the case of catastrophic destabilization upon our consciousness. With that image we could more con- of the earth’s ecosystems by human folly, fungi will prepare the cretely begin to view our species as only one in an intricately way for the future. interdependent network. We could more easily imagine ourselves Keywords: Agricultural waste, Mushrooms, Mycorrhizae, as one among millions of species living in a thin membrane, the Recycling biosphere, on the surface of our planet—planet whose resources are not endlessly exploitable. The philosophy of sustainability is a “How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World”—This is the rather repudiation of the early 20th-century industrial model of the ex- sensational subtitle of Paul Stamets’s superb new book, Mycelium ploitation of nature, with its technology-driven economic growth Running. If you haven’t yet read his inspiring book you might think and demand for ever-greater consumption of products and ser- that his subtitle is hyperbole, but he passionately believes that if vices. we commune and cooperate with the mycelial networks beneath The underlying ethic of sustainability was succinctly articu- our feet—networks that form an essential component of the lated in the 1987 United Nations report, “Our Common Future” earth’s ecosystems—there is hope for the survival of our species. (AKA “The Bruntland Report”): “. meeting the needs of the Stamets is not alone in his optimism about the future role of present generation without compromising the ability of future mushrooms (and other fungi) in human affairs. A number of or- generations to meet their needs (www.un.org/geninfo/bp/ ganizations see mushroom cultivation playing an important part envirp2.html.) in moving our planet toward sustainability. I would like to intro- duce one of these organizations, Zero Emissions Research and The report prescribed sustainability as a goal to be applied to Initiatives (ZERI), that is doing especially innovative work with every level of organization, from local communities to the entire mushrooms and sustainability, but first a brief overview of the planet. The Bruntland Report was the result of the work of the history of the sustainability movement may make our discussion United Nation’s World Commission on Environment and Develop- more meaningful. ment, chaired by former Norwegian Prime Minister, Grö Harlem Brundtland. (See United Nations Briefing Papers Home Page at: Sustainability www.un.org/geninfo/bp/worconf.html.) The word “sustainability” has recently come to find itself pushed One of the principle conclusions of the Commission was that forward into the limelight and attached as a modifier to nouns our critical global environmental problems are primarily the result of the enormous poverty of the South and the non-sustainable * 52 Douglas St. #1, St. Paul, MN 55102, [email protected] patterns of consumption and production in the North. This Com- Fungi 38 Volume 1:1 Spring 2008 mission was the impetus for the UN Earth Summit in 1992, where mushroom cultivation business can be managed by a family or a global plan for sustainable development was first revealed. The small community. The prices commanded by mushrooms are much plan became known as “Agenda 21” (the 21 refers to the 21st greater than for other comparable produce, and the demand for century). The next Earth Summit at Johannesburg in 2002 (The “gourmet mushrooms” is increasing worldwide. Mushrooms are World Summit on Sustainable Development) called for full imple- quite nutritious, and they can be a potential food source as well as mentation of Agenda 21, along with the achievement of the “Mil- a marketable product in impoverished areas. In addition, mush- lennium Development Goals” by 2015. Those goals are as follows: rooms have significant medicinal properties, which makes them a 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger potential health food commodity. Shiitake mushrooms, for example, are a source of the compound Lentinan, which is being 2. Achieve universal primary education evaluated as an anti-cancer drug. Even the ubiquitous polypore, 3. Promote gender equality and empower women Trametes versicolor (“Turkey Tail”) is a source of “ PSK,” another 4. Reduce child mortality substance with anti-cancer potential (Hobbs, 1995). Health food stores and upscale “whole foods” markets now have whole lines of 5. Improve maternal health “mycomedicinals.” Paul Stamets (1999) is well known for his pio- 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases neering work in this area. 7. Ensure environmental sustainability The most significant virtue of mushroom cultivation is that 8. Develop a global partnership for development mushrooms can perform the alchemy of transforming agricultural and other organic waste into a nutritious and marketable (See Millennium Development Goals at www.un.org/ product. Oyster mushrooms can grow on cottonseed hulls, co- millenniumgoals.) coa hulls, banana leaves, coffee waste, straw, and even newspaper The United Nations, believing that it is of vital importance and cardboard. Shiitake mushrooms grow well on many different for everyone to understand the concept of sustainability and the woods and forest waste materials. But that is not the end—once Millennium Development Goals, has declared a “Decade of Educa- the mushroom harvest is over, the spent mushroom substrate has tion for Sustainable Development,” which started in January 2005. all the nutrients, protein, and medicinal compounds found in the The response to the UN’s reports and initiatives has been mushrooms themselves. This makes it an ideal feed product for overwhelming. Scores of organizations, both governmental and livestock, being both nutritional and medicinal (Adamovic et al., non-governmental, have arisen to work toward sustainability in 1998). Alternatively it can be used as excellent compost for other all areas of human activity-economic, ethical, social, technologi- plant or vegetable crops, again turning a waste product into a cal, and environmental. A list of some of those organizations is valuable resource. appended at the end of this article. ZERI and Mushroom Cultivation What Do Mushrooms Have to Do with Sustainability? ZERI <http://www.zeri.org/> is an international organization I am sure you recall seeing news reports about the mass slaughter founded by the visionary eco-designer, Gunter Pauli. Pauli has of millions Asian chickens and other poultry as a measure to pre- been a pioneer of sustainability. He has a long record of achieve- vent the spreading of the deadly avian flu. In response to the crisis ments in this field starting in the 1980s. Pauli was selected as one the government of Hong Kong declared a complete ban on the of “100 Global Leaders of Tomorrow” by the World Economic raising of poultry. Millions of chickens were exterminated in an Forum. He is currently traveling internationally to train and cer- attempt to kill all poultry in the province (Nowak, 2002; Young, tify practitioners of his revolutionary eco-design principles. His 2002). This action has had a devastating effect on hundreds of students have gone on to initiate projects in both developed and small farmers, whose livelihoods have depended on raising poul- developing nations (Pauli, 1996; 1997). try for generations. As a remedy for the plight of the poultry farm- ZERI stands for Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives. The ers, the Hong Kong Department of Agriculture is offering an al- philosophy of ZERI in a nutshell is “Zero emissions means zero ternative to poultry farming—mushroom cultivation. The farm- waste.” It applies “systems thinking” which is holistic and considers ers are being offered seminars to learn the techniques for mush- feedback loops in complex dynamic systems, to design projects room cultivation and marketing (UPI, Hong Kong, Feb. 15. 2006). applicable to all human needs—food, shelter, livelihood, self es- There are a number of good reasons for promoting mush- teem, community—in a sustainable manner. room cultivation: Mushrooms are a crop that grows rapidly and The design principles of ZERI are modeled on the natural yields high returns.

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