Mushroom growers across California are fighting to keep the fungi bearing the state's name 100 percent local.
Introduced by Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) on Jan. 12, Assembly Bill 1833 aims to make the production and sale of mushrooms bearing "California Grown" or "California Mushroom" stickers unlawful unless they were developed from scratch in the state. California is the second-largest producer of mushrooms in the country, following Pennsylvania.
"So many people have no idea how much of the mushroom industry is imported from overseas, specifically from China, Australia, Canada," Mighty Cap Mushrooms founder Chris Batlle told New Times. "My own research has found that roughly about 80 percent of the mushrooms globally grown are overseas for the United States."
Along with being growers, Batlle and his team at Mighty Cap in Paso Robles educate their visitors about the dedicated, time-consuming process of growing mushrooms. It involves a series of precise steps that many large commercial companies cut corners on.
Read more at newtimesslo.com