I just read a plea to save the earth through education of
fungi. Sound ridiculous?
According to Paul Stamets having a compost pile without
considering edible fungi is a waste. Next, on his list of
complaints is our abysmal awareness of fungi. Of the
estimated 6 million fungi species we have limited knowledge
of maybe 50,000. The fact that fungi can control garden PH
is almost never mentioned anywhere.
In Europe 50 percent of the mycorrhizal fungi is now lost and
the impact on forests and farms is a fact no one wants to
face. One never hears that fungi are essential to
sustainable food chains.
Fungi are also one of natures best filters and often we
ignore this and talk about the host plants instead. Some
plants host up to 200 different fungi and can not survive
(long term) without them. Those same plants are in catalogs
and seldom is the fungal relationship mentioned.
Recently it was discovered that fungi can eat crude oil
(large amounts) and some fungi attack toxic's such as E.
Coli. In fact it is probably fungi that keeps our world in
balance and controls most of the toxins humans worry about.
So... is this common knowledge or an exaggeration of fungal
facts? My test on a small sample of friends found a belief
that fungi are mostly a health problem.
jeff
