Farmer Elizabeth Almeida didn’t start out as a mushroom grower. In 2011, she leased land in Massachusetts’ Merrimack Valley and launched a vegetable CSA. “I loved being able to feed people, the physical work, being my own boss, having flexible hours so I could care for my two children, solving the diverse problems that come up, and playing a role in the local food movement,” Elizabeth says. “But when I tried to buy farm land so I could scale up, the cost was prohibitive.”
Elizabeth was faced with the biggest challenge of her career: Finding a crop that she could grow that didn’t require sunlight or a lot of land.
While trying to figure this out, Elizabeth bought her son a grow-your-own mushroom kit because he was crazy about mushrooms. She looked at the kit and it hit her: “Aha! Mushrooms!” The funny thing was, she grew up on a farm where they foraged for morel mushrooms, but it’d never occurred to her that she could produce them as a crop.
Elizabeth gave herself a crash course in mushroom growing and began commercial production in 2016. “I got a lot of help from a really generous mushroom producer,” she says. “That’s one reason why I’m so passionate about helping other farmers now.”
Presently, Fat Moon employees six people, sells mushrooms to local farmstands and distributes to restaurants through Costa Foods. Our growth has been primarily through word of mouth. You can help Fat Moon grow and expand by asking your favorite retailers and restaurants to serve Fat Moon Mushrooms. |
