A Pagosa Springs-based small business that uses a controlled-climate container farm to grow culinary and functional mushrooms is now certified organic. Behind the Tooth & Gill Mushroom Co. brand is husband-and-wife team Aaron Carter and Lauren Hawksworth, both of whom left the corporate world to pursue their passion for improving community access to healthy food in the form of gourmet mushrooms.
These particular mushrooms are grown entirely in the confines of an insulated, tech-assisted shipping container farm built by Colorado-based FarmBox Foods. Tooth & Gill Mushroom Co. launched last year and has made quite an impression through consumer-facing pop-ups, deliveries, farmers markets in Pagosa Springs and Bayfield, and food hubs like Terra Walk Farm and Valley Roots Food Hub. It has also forged partnerships with local restaurants.
"It's about local food systems, and people are starting to show interest in rebuilding those," Lauren said. "We see it here in our community, which is really cool."
Now being officially certified as organic enables Tooth & Gill to get on the shelves of local grocery stores. As interest in where food comes from and support for local farmers grows, there are opportunities for independently owned enterprises to fulfill the demand and help educate the public about the many health benefits of mushrooms. Lauren began incorporating mushrooms into her diet in her mid-20s and leaned heavily on lion's mane mushrooms during her recovery from severe heatstroke a few years ago. For Aaron, the foray into container farming is a return of sorts to his family's agricultural roots in Nebraska.
Read more at Pagosa Daily Post
