Celebrity chefs to livestream sustainable 'shroomy' recipes

Mushrooms may be the most sustainable commodity crop out there just by the way they’re farmed.

So, it makes sense that for the second year, The Mushroom Council is devoting Earth Month, which is April, to showcasing mushrooms’ sustainability with Kittch, a culinary livestream platform. 

Throughout the month, Kittch will feature celebrated chefs nationwide livestreaming their favorite mushroom-centric recipes while touting fresh mushrooms’ minimal environmental footprint, according to a news release.

Learn more: Mushrooms, the commodity

The objective: Inspire home cooks to incorporate more mushrooms into their meals while also reminding them why the council considers sustainably grown mushrooms “The Official Ingredient of Earth Month.” 

Launched in mid-2022, Kittch is possibly the first livestreaming platform for chefs and culinary artists. It’s a media hub devoted exclusively to food content, commerce and community. The platform hosts more than 600 carefully curated chefs, culinary influencers and brands.

Last year’s inaugural Earth Month collaboration between The Mushroom Council and Kittch reached consumers more than 4 million times. 

As part of this year’s campaign, food lovers can tune in and cook along with their favorite culinary creators throughout April by signing up for a free Kittch account. Participating chefs events include:

• Chad Rosenthal, chef-owner of The Lucky Well and Motel Fried Chicken in Philadelphia and Food Network personality — At 2 p.m. ET April 7, Rosenthal will make Seared Royal Trumpet Banh Mi with White Button Pâté.
• Sarah Grueneberg, chef and partner of Monteverde Restaurant and Pastificio in Chicago, James Beard Award winner and cookbook author — At 6 p.m. ET April 11, Grueneberg will make Pan-Roasted Fancy Mushrooms with Golden Fried Eggs, Bitter Greens and Balsamic.
• Kiki Aranita, chef-owner of Poi Dog Sauce, James Beard nominee, food writer in Philadelphia and New York City — At 6 p.m. ET April 17, Aranita will make Oyster Mushroom and Mussel Mazeman.
• Mei Lin, chef-owner Daybird in Los Angeles, “Top Chef” winner and winner of Food & Wine’s Best New Restaurant — At 1 p.m. ET April 24, Lin will make King Trumpet Dan Dan “Noodles.” 

These chefs also will conduct special Earth Month menu promotions at their restaurants to highlight their mushroom-centric dishes for customers to enjoy. 

 “It’s going to be a shroomy experience on Kittch all throughout April, and I’m so excited to be bringing viewers into my kitchen,” Aranita said in the release. “I love mushrooms, of course, because of their inherent umami, but also when I’m cooking with them, I just generally feel better about the dish I’m preparing because I know it only requires very few resources to produce that ingredient. Great taste and gentle on the planet. You can’t beat them!”

Minimal footprint

Consider why researchers have declared mushrooms “one of the most sustainably produced agriculture products”:

• Producing 1 pound of mushrooms requires only 1.8 gallons of water and 1.0 kWh of electricity. And it generates only 0.7 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents.
• Up to 1 million pounds of mushrooms can be grown on 1 acre of land in a year. 
• Mushrooms are grown in composted agricultural materials, which after harvest, is often recycled into potting soil.

To learn more about mushroom sustainability and the Kittch collaboration, visit the Mushroom Council’s dedicated Earth Month web page. 

The Mushroom Council is comprised of fresh market producers and importers averaging more than 500,000 pounds of mushrooms produced or imported annually. The mushroom program is authorized by the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act of 1990 and is administered by The Mushroom Council under the supervision of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.