The Journey of a Specialty Mushrooms Farm | Jared Bell

In this episode of the Rooted and Reaching podcast, hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley speak with Jared Bell, Founder of Myco Mushrooms, a specialty mushroom farm based in Goshen, Indiana. Jared shares how Myco Mushrooms began with a vision to bring specialty mushrooms to local restaurants, farmers markets, and wholesale distributors. He also discusses why mushrooms are more than just a delicious ingredient, and how they can be used to make packaging materials, clean up radioactive material, and even help repair neural networks in the brain. QUOTES“You can eat any mushroom at least once. But the thing about the specialty mushrooms is all the different uses that they have and the nutritional value that comes with some of these mushrooms. They all have their different tastes, they're different textures, and they're different smells. And it's like you take a king trumpet mushroom or a blue oyster or a lion's main mushroom, and comparing these mushrooms is kind of like comparing an apple to a head of lettuce.” - Jared Bell [02:15]“I would definitely say there should be some more community outreach, especially youth programs for younger people so that way they can know at a younger age and possibly get started earlier than I did in life towards something more than what they are born into or what their viewpoint is on what they're destined for.” - Jared Bell [12:29]TIMESTAMPS[00:27] Jared Bell and the origin story of Myco Mushrooms [03:04] The nutritional benefits of specialty mushrooms[06:54] The business model of a vertical farm[09:01] Running a specialty mushroom business[12:29] The need for community outreach programsRESOURCESMyco MushroomsCONTACTNick Kuhn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuhnnick/ Bethany Hartley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanyhartley/ Jared Bell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-bell-ab4aa9246/ Mentioned in this episode:Proof of Concept Funding for South Bend & Elkhart RegionProof of Concept Fund