The local mushroom grower is helping consumers cut their meat consumption in half—for their health and the environment.
When mushrooms are harvested, the edible root, or mycelia, stays underground. That’s a lot of food being left on the table—or off it, as the case may be. A new Hudson Valley company is changing that with an innovative food blend that can be mixed with animal products to reduce meat consumption.
Mush Foods is headquartered in New York City, but the “root” of its operations is a vertical farm in Hyde Park, just minutes from the Culinary Institute of America, where the company’s culinary director AJ Schaller earned her degree.
“We considered the Northeast as well as California and Chicago,” says CEO and co-founder Shalom Daniel, eventually deciding on the Hudson Valley as “as a leader in culinary concept.”
Utilizing pioneering farming techniques, Mush Foods takes local food and farm waste and turns it into its proprietary growing substrate, raising whole fungi above ground in eight days—with 50 percent more yield and twice the protein of traditionally grown mushrooms.
After harvesting, mycelia is ground, roasted, and mixed into Mush’s “50CUT” blends of up to 14 distinct mushroom varieties—oyster, trumpet, shiitake, lion’s mane, and more—specifically designed to pair with beef, chicken, fish, pork, or lamb. The result is a nutrient dense whole-protein food source, rich in amino acids, antioxidants, and fiber, that fully melds with an animal protein in flavor, texture, and color—with a punch of umami and a near-zero carbon footprint.
Curious locals can get a taste of 50CUT for themselves at Farmers & Chefs in Poughkeepsie, where juicy 50CUT burgers are being served alongside 50CUT meatballs with spaghetti or polenta, and 50CUT Bolognese with house-made pasta.
“When we started, we had a regular burger. 100 percent beef. Within a few weeks 80 percent of the orders were for the 50CUT burger,” says owner/chef John Lekic. “The biggest test is the customer response.”
And the kicker is: Mush doesn’t expect anyone to ditch their beef burgers for portobello. The company’s website suggests, “It’s time to eat your meat and have it too.”
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