May Membership Meeting

Presentation: Mushrooms in Oaxaca, Mexico by Zachary Mazi.

Zachary Mazi will be presenting to our club via Zoom. Attendees can choose to join us in-person or online. Zoom link will be provided upon registration.

Doors open at 6:30 PM. We encourage you to register online ahead of time. Room at the event is limited. Member check-in and guest tickets may be available at the door if seats are available. Online attendance available via Zoom.

Presentation will start at 7:00 PM. 

-- Masks and social distancing are recommended.

-- If you are feeling sick or do not feel safe enough to attend in-person, please stay home and enjoy the meeting and program via Zoom. We thank you for your cooperation.

Presentation Summary:

"It has been estimated that indigenous Mexicans consume about 300 species of edible mushrooms country-wide throughout its eight climate regions, one of the most climate diverse countries in the world. All of Mexico’s climates are found in the Southern State of Oaxaca. Despite its inclusion geographically in North America, the country of Mexico is quite foreign when compared to the US and Canada in its attitudes toward mushrooms and mushroom foraging. The difference, even more pronounced in Oaxaca, is more than just a language barrier, though that plays a significant role: despite Spanish being the dominant language, there are more than 15 official languages and dozens of dialects spoken throughout this state alone. More than half of the political regions in Oaxaca are self-governed autonomous democracies. This governance naturally extends into a sustenance-based relationship to the land itself–land that has been continuously occupied in some places by the same people for over 12,000 years. There are no mushrooms picking permits: nothing can be removed from the land–nor even access granted–without express permission of the community. In this presentation, Chef Zachary Mazi attempts to tackle the barriers in understanding this delicate relationship, and discuss the intricate web of food-life-forest-community that underlies the unique management of these diverse and incredible ethnomycological regions whose wisdom holds so much potential for learning for the rest of North America."

Zachary's Updated Biography:

"Classically trained in French culinary education, and raised in New American and Pacific Northwest kitchens, Chef Zachary Mazi presents imaginative experiences in the culinary and mycological world, bringing people together through love of food and community. He hopes to inspire other though entertaining lectures and fusion-powered view of regional cuisines. He unexpectedly spent the first year and half of the pandemic Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he lived, cooked and foraged with his fiancé Kimberly. He now lives in Oaxaca, Mexico, where he is involved with local indigenous communities to explore sustainable community-supporting mycotourism. He is the owner of The Fungivore, an aspiring author, mycophagy researcher and performance poet. Follow his adventures on instagram at @mycophagybook.”