By Amanda Dye
In 2019, just months before the pandemic, Amanda Dye had begun growing fungi in her basement. This exploration into fungi cultivation set her on a path to work with fungi using innovative methods to grow it and address systemic community issues. While simultaneously attending classes at Clark University, Dye expanded her mushroom growing operations from her childhood home to under her bed in the dorms of Clark and then eventually began cultivation just a few blocks from campus at an urban community garden, The Bioshelter. The Bioshelter is owned and managed by Worcester Common Ground (WCG), an affordable housing non-profit in the Piedmont neighborhood of Worcester. It’s the first in Massachusetts, outfitted with an off-grid design perfect for growing fungi, experimenting with mycoremediation techniques, and engaging the local community.
Beginning in the Fall of 2022, Dye started the mutual aid effort called The Fungi For Everyone Project, which seeks to donate fresh edible fungi to local food pantries, mainly distributed through the WooFridges network, another mutual aid effort that provides Worcester neighbors with safe and free access to cold food storage. Dye began using cardboard and paper scraps bound for recycling or the landfill as a cost-effective alternative substrate for fungi cultivation to address the waste cycles in WCG's affordable housing units. This experiment yielded both Oyster mushrooms and Shiitake mushrooms at a fraction of the cost of typical gourmet mushrooms while tackling the systemic trash issues we have in Worcester and reducing carbon emissions. Furthermore, the substrate used for growing fungi becomes food for the worms at the Bioshelter, who convert the mycelium into free, nutrient-rich compost and worm fertilizer for community gardeners to use.
In addition to The Fungi for Everyone Project, Dye is known online as “Mandy’s Mushrooms,” where she runs an Instagram page and website dedicated to fungi identification, wild fungi/ plant foraging and teaches others how to engage with the natural world while breaking down any barriers that induce mycophobia. She travels all over New England and Upstate NY, leading programs independently and co-teaching with environmental educators, such as Amy Demers of the Connecticut Foraging Club.
“So many people ask me, ‘Can I touch this mushroom? Will it hurt me?’ This question always gets to the root of the problem - people in the United States fear fungi. This mindset, mycophobia, has set us back in ways unimaginable for mycological research but also for the greater society. It’s time for people to get naturally curious and feel empowered to go out there and find fungi,” says Dye.
Just a few blocks from the Bioshelter, one can find the Regional Environmental Council (REC) and the YouthGROW farm, where local young people can learn about their food systems, gain practical agricultural knowledge, and reclaim a connection to their food. Last Spring, instructors Michael Bonilla and Ali Soofi, from The Farm School, a non-profit organization based in rural, north-central Massachusetts with a mission of connecting people to the land, led a class at the YouthGROW farm on outdoor Shiitake log cultivation for the community. YouthGROW has expanded its log cultivation throughout the site since. The addition of fungi to their farm has diversified the types of crops grown and provides fresh, protein, and nutrient-rich mushrooms for participants to enjoy or even try for the first time!
In 2023, the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central MA (SEACMA) was awarded a grant to create the first, automated indoor fungi farm to address food insecurity and food sovereignty in Worcester. Dye was brought on as a mycology consultant to get this farm functioning and has been working on dialing in the growing factors, such as temperature, humidity and CO2, to create the perfect grow room for SEACMA. This room will grow Shiitake, Oysters, and Enoki for local residents. Surplus will be donated to the WooFridges or sold at REC Farmers markets in the city.
Growing fungi can provide food and a viable economic opportunity for Worcester’s residents, allowing them to build upon inherent skills and make money. Working with fungi in an agricultural setting can also spark curiosity in children and young adults, who may, at the very least, become mycophiles (lovers of fungi) and may even go on to study them in higher academia or other settings.
In the Fall of 2022, the Clark University Mycology Club was established. Recently awarded a community mycology grant from the Boston Mycology Club, the Clark Mycology Club plans to expand upon their mycology-based workshops, forays, film screenings, and lectures from renowned researchers. Dye, a founding member of the club and the Social Media and Publicity chair, has worked to bring Clark students to events and engage campus residents eager to learn about fungi. The Clark Mycology Club attracts students and people of all backgrounds, from those majoring in Studio Art to Business and Entrepreneurship. Just as fungi form mycelial networks to enhance other organisms’ lives and improve the world around them, the mycology community is the same.
Amanda Dye, she/her, is the creator of Mandy's Mushrooms and the founder of the Fungi for Everyone Project. She is based in Worcester, MA, and can be reached at mandysmushrooms@gmail.com.
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