Fungi Friday's - July 29th, 2022
Issue #41
Hey Fungi Fam,
Did you miss me last week? Well i’m back, and have some news… after a failed first crop (which we’ve documented throughout the process), we’re about to kick off round #2, starting tomorrow. That’s right, we’re fixing the panels, installing more ventilation for airflow, doing a massive deep clean of the trailer, and getting the pink oysters set and ready to go! Finger crossed trial number two is better than trial number one. We’re learning from our mistakes to better perfect the process, so I sure think it will be.
A week off and we have plenty of interesting mushroom related stories for you this week as well. Was hard to pick the top three to feature, so be sure to peruse the extras to see if any headline catches your eye. There sure are some good ones down there.
Let’s kick it off!
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PLANS FOR LEGAL PSYCHEDELIC THERAPIES WITHIN TWO YEARS
This first one is super exciting, not only because i’ll win a bet with a buddy that this was coming sooner than expected, but also because well, it’s about time! We’ve covered time and time again on this small corner of the internet all of the great studies coming out on these potential therapies, so good to see more positive momentum, especially at the federal level that this is even being discussed!
The article covers a letter from the Health and Human Services Department discloses the anticipated FDA approval of MDMA and psilocybin treatments. It even goes on to state that President Joe Biden’s administration “anticipates” that regulators will approve MDMA and psilocybin within the next two years for designated breakthrough therapies for PTSD and depression, respectively. The administration is “exploring the prospect of establishing a federal task force to monitor” the emerging psychedelic treatment ecosystem, according to the letter sent by Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Miriam Delphin-Rittmon to Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa.
For more details, be sure to check out the article. Personally, I won’t believe it until something is truly passed, but as I mentioned above, even starting the discussion at the federal level is exciting. Until now, all we’ve see are different state legislatures taking up this debate. Exciting times ahead!
Your Final Resting Place Could Be a Coffin Made of Mushrooms
While the second feature of the week touches on an idea that might be a bit grim, but considering it’s really just a proof of concept and ultimately might have many more use cases, we decided to bring it to you. And yes, you ready that correct, it’s fungi coffins. Dubbed the Living Cocoon, this product is actually quite innovative and in my opinion has great product market fit. You see, mycelium is nature’s great recycler. As they feed, they release enzymes that are able to convert organic compounds like wood and leaves, as well as human-made pollutants—including pesticides, hydrocarbons, and chlorinated compounds—into soluble nutrients. As such, mycelia have been deployed to clean up oil spills and chemical contaminants. Myco-remediation, as the method is called, has been used by the US military to clear up neurotoxins, and to clean asbestos and Japanese knotweed found in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park before the 2012 games.
And while the the Living Cocoon is project number one, for it’s founder this is just the first step in establishing a mutualistic relationship between humanity and nature. Alongside the mycelium caskets, he is working on growing pods that he believes could one day be scaled up for humanity to inhabit. In theory, these rooms, buildings—or eventually, even entire settlements—could be turned into compost after their useful life, returning their nutrients and disappearing without a trace as quickly as they’ve been grown.
I truly believe it’ll ultimately be mushrooms that save this planet, and this second feature of the week is just another way in which they might play a role!
These Mormons Have Found a New Faith — in Magic Mushrooms
And for our final feature of the week, an article that covers how worshippers are leaving the Church of Latter-day Saints in record numbers, and some are finding solace with an apostate band of psilocybin-loving spiritual explorers looking for God — one trip at a time.
Their new church of worship is called Divine Assembly which has attracted nearly 3,000 members, and their sacrament? — psilycibin. The church was cofounded by a one time powerful Republican state legislature named Steve Urquhart and his wife Sarah. And to be completely honest, I personally found this article and their story to be fascinating. It not only covers their falling out of the Church of Latter-day Saints, but also how they found parallel’s in their previous faith and mushrooms. This shouldn’t be all that surprising though, as while here in the US, psilocybin may be relatively new, there are plenty of ancient civilizations such as the Mayans, Aztecs, Huastec, Totonac, Mazatec, and Mixtec people, all of whom are known to have used hallucinogenic mushrooms in religious ceremonies stretching back thousands of years.
While this is quite a long article, as I mentioned, if you’re interested in this topic as I am, and also interested in human psychology and how different people see the world, I definitely recommend taking a skim. In all honesty, with the way this industry and these studies are progressing, I wouldn’t be all that surprised to see this story in documentary form on day soon.
As a closing note, before we wrap and you check out the rest of the articles below, just wanted to point something out that most probably didn’t notice… while we cover mushroom related articles from all over the internet here, the three features from this week came from super high profile publications. The Intercept, Wired and RollingStone are no joke, so to see each of them covering our tiny niche (maybe not so tiny anymore) is so cool. As i’ve stated a few times throughout this weeks note, exciting times ahead for the world of fungi!
Want even more? Here are some other interesting, mushroom focused reads of the week:
The mushroom boom is all set to takeover your skincare with these products
‘Soil Isn’t Forever’: Why Biodiversity Also Needs Protection Below the Ground
Michael Pollan changed his own mind with psychedelics. Now he’s changing others’
As always, thank you for reading this weeks edition of Fungi Friday’s! If you enjoyed what you found, please feel free to forward to friends also interested in the Fungi Community!
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