Event

Dank Cultivation: Cave Mushrooms, International Commerce, and Underground Knowledge

In the late 1800s, intentional cultivation of mushrooms became a major international business opportunity. Amid a changing knowledge environment about the reproduction of fungi and the environment, as well as shifting palates, cave mushroom farms emerged as significant commercial undertakings, from France to Scotland and the United States. This talk explores the history of mushroom cultivation around the turn of the century in a transnational perspective, tracing the emergence of new ideas about fungal organisms and life in underground spaces, as well as showing how novel modes of cultivation made mushroom foods newly accessible to consumers around the world.