Mushrooms: A cheap source of protein.

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MUSHROOMS - Mushrooms have the potential to be a cheaper source of protein for developing countries while encouraging sustainable farming practices.

Mushrooms are part of the fungi family and can be an important source of protein and a good source of minerals and vitamins, especially Vitamin D and B1, B2, B3 and B5. Oyster mushrooms, for example, are high in calcium, phosphorous and iron. It is estimated that approximately 200grams of oyster mushrooms a day will provide the necessary protein and white button mushrooms have more protein than kidney beans.

 

This is not the only advantage to growing mushrooms; they can also be seen as a good way of reducing waste. Mushrooms have been successfully grown using the by-product waste of other industries or even grown on compost that is derived from the eradication of biological pests.

 

Some of the countries that have successfully incorporated these ideas include Vietnam where mushrooms are grown in the compost made from the water hyacinth, which is a pest. Namibia, Fiji and Tanzania are three countries where mushrooms have been successfully grown in the waste by-product from brewing beer. Mushrooms can break down the grain that is left after the fermentation process is complete and extract the required nutrition.

 

Deciding on the type of mushroom to grow depends on the waste matter that is available to grow the mushrooms in. The Mushroom Council separate mushroom farming into the following 6 steps:

 

Composting – making the compost

Composting – finishing the compost Spawning Casing Pinning Cropping.

The complete cycle generally takes 15 weeks.

 

Growing mushrooms is seen by communities in developing countries as means of not only alleviating malnutrition but also poverty. Communities with high unemployment can potentially create jobs locally by starting mushroom farming, especially where the community is involved in the project.

 

And best of all, because mushroom farming doesn’t need to take up lots of space, it’s perfect for schools looking to earn a little extra income to support their activities!

Extra: Some resources that are aimed at cultivating mushrooms in developing countries include:

 

The Migal Galilee Technology Center has a mushroom research and development department and provides technical aid to developing countries and has recently completed projects in Brazil, India, and Zimbabwe.

 

 

Peter Oei’s book, Manual on Mushroom Cultivation describes alternative mushroom production systems and how they have been successfully used in developing countries.

This article used information from the following sources, visit these websites for more information:The Mushroom Council http://mushroominfo.com/ : The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/mushroom.html : The UNESCO courier http://www.unesco.org/courier/1999_02/uk/planete/txt1.htm : Watisgenomics – project Enidado:

http://www.watisgenomics.nl/sites/genomics/contents/i001219/enidado.pdf : Migal - http://www.migal.org.il/mushrooms.html

What if a “dirty bomb” exploded over a large segment of U.S.population that simultaneously exposed citizens to Hepatitis B,Hepatitis A, tetanus, pertussis, diphtheria, three strains of polio viruses, three strains of influenza, measles, mumps, and rubella viruses, two types of meningitis, four strains of herpes viruses, the chickenpox virus, 7 strains of Streptococcus bacteria, and four strainsof rotavirus.

• We would declare a national emergency.• It would be an “extreme act of BIOTERRORISM• The public outcry would be immense and our government would react accordingly.

And yet, those are the very organisms we inject into our babies and our small children in multiple doses, with immature, underdeveloped immunesystems, many at the same time with vaccines.

But instead of bioterrorism, we call it “protection.” Reflect on that irony.- Dr Sheri Tenpenny, MD

 

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