An urban farmer and Columbus chef has found a niche growing mushrooms that he promises will not serve as a precursor to a "The Last of Us" kind of zombie apocalypse. Marcus Smith, owner of Marc's Gourmet Mushrooms, began growing mushrooms during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he told the Ledger-Enquirer.
What began with a few grow kits, grew into a lab and evolved into a larger "grow room." "(Growing mushrooms) slowed down around 2022 when COVID was kind of ending," Smith said.
He had returned to the restaurant industry for a couple of years, but the mushrooms had become Smith's passion. He grows gourmet mushrooms full-time now, selling them at Market Days and other markets in Columbus and Opelika.
"I'm still kind of small," Smith said. "So, it's hard. But we're growing every day."
Read more at The Ledger Enquirer