Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont internship
NORTH FERRISBURGH — Blake Goldberg promised the mushrooms long ago that he would dedicate a significant part of his life to them.
A fungi enthusiast since high school, Goldberg has been growing mushrooms for much of his life — first for fun, then for what he says was a “karmic calling.” Goldberg and his wife, Lindsey, own Madcap Mushrooms, a gourmet mushroom farm based in North Ferrisburgh.
“We’re really trying to get as many mushrooms into as many mouths as possible,” Goldberg said.
Growers like the Goldbergs are frontlining a national march toward fungi. In the U.S., the mushroom industry is likely to reach $34.7 billion by 2033 — up from $17.56 billion in 2024.
Goldberg said mushrooms are one of the most sustainable forms of agriculture, too.
Unlike corn, which requires about 90 gallons of water to grow one pound of the crop, an average pound of mushrooms takes 1.8 gallons. With the entire state of Vermont facing drought conditions last summer, Goldberg said a crop that thrives with little water may be a saving grace.
Mushrooms can also be vertically farmed, with one square foot of space producing 7.1 pounds of food annually. Goldberg notes that the minimal space requirement means mushrooms are more accessible to homegrowers.
“The rich and the poor can do it in a very small space,” he said.
Mushrooms are how Goldberg approaches healing the earth.
“We need to fix how we grow food and our distribution of food,” he said. “If people can replace one meal of meat a month with mushrooms, that would have a significant, good impact on the environment.”
Mushrooms pack a nutritious punch, too: Just an eighth of a cup per day may lower one’s cancer risk by as much as 45 percent, according to a 2021 study.
But few people know about these fungal superpowers. According to University of Vermont mycology professor Terrence Delaney, the U.S. has been traditionally “mycophobic.”
Goldberg partly blames grocery store white buttons and portabellas that lack taste and texture.
“They’re almost like bottom-tier mushrooms,” he said. “People eat them once and will be like, ‘This is a rubbery texture, and I don’t like mushrooms.’”
That reaction is exactly what Madcap is trying to change.
The first step is producing high-quality mushrooms at scale in the Goldbergs’ 3,300 square foot warehouse. The toadstool repository is equipped with controlled humidity, carbon dioxide, ventilation and temperature.
The next step is convincing people to eat them.
Madcap does year-round outreach at Vermont farmers markets. Its fungus-adorned stand features large and intricate mushrooms, which often shock passersby.
“It’s cool to blow people’s minds,” Goldberg said.
He said some of his most productive conversations are with mushroom newcomers who are pleasantly surprised by Madcap’s fresh, gourmet varieties.
Karl Lucas is one such convert.
He’d “always grown up hating mushrooms,” Lucas said, recalling how he had to “force down” the ones from the grocery store. So, when Lindsey, his former co-worker at O Bread Bakery, offered him a half pound of lion’s mane mushrooms at work, he was skeptical.
Per her suggestion, he fried them up with olive oil, salt and pepper. Later that night, he texted her: “So that’s what mushrooms are supposed to taste like.”
Now Lucas buys Madcap mushrooms nearly every week. Lion’s mane is still his favorite.
Madcap also runs occasional workshops on growing for fungi fanatics. Sometimes, they’re at the Goldbergs’ house, where Lindsey often teaches recipes. Other times, they appear at conventions, like NOFA-VT’s winter conference. Last year, so many people showed up that they had to turn folks away, Goldberg said.
Right now, the Goldbergs are ramping up their new community supported agriculture program after welcoming their first baby in October. Wrapping up a degree in agroecology at the University of Vermont, Goldberg hopes to teach his own UVM class one day. The subject? Mushroom growing.