Recalibrating Fungi – Bringing Mushrooms Back to Earth
Alison Pouliot
Image by Alison Pouliot
In recent decades, mycologists and mycophiles have worked to dispel the myths and misunderstandings that have historically maligned fungi. Many of those arose before we understood their ways. Yet misinformation around mushrooms persists, fuelled at times by a fetish for sensationalism and misguided perceptions of risk.
Ethnomycological knowledge has filtered down through generations of cultures around the world, across the millennia. A wide spectrum of species used as food and medicine, in rituals and more reflects the rich and contextualised understanding arising from direct observation and deep hanging out with fungi.
Image by Alison Pouliot
In today’s climate of unsustainable alarmism, the humble mushroom returns to centre stage as sinister villain to which we’re warned to be on hyper-alert. This blatant cultivation of fear by so-called authorities not only harms fungi and their environments, but also people, societies, and the mechanisms that enable transmission of knowledge.
In keeping with the theme of the conference, it might be time to revive and regenerate our appreciation of all that fungi have to offer. In this talk, Alison encourages us take a deep breath, come down to earth, and rediscover these wondrous and life-giving organisms.
