Stay Local

photo credit: Tom Giebel

Dan Madura is the owner of MycoMedicinals, the premier Mushroom distributer of the New York City Greenmarket system. Upon approaching him for this interview, he wanted to clarify that he is not an entrepreneur, but happy to help you anyway he can. If I know anything about good business it’s an attitude like that, along side an exceptional product,  that keeps the customers coming back. Lets see if what Dan has to say helps you through your day. As for me, a few minutes with this man and a bunch or two of his magical mushrooms, is a fix for any ailment.

Tell us what you do?

I grow different varieties of greens, vegetables, and exotic mushrooms.

Does farming run in the family?

We have been farmers for generations.

Where is the farm and how many acres?

Goshen, Warwick and Minisink. My mother had 726 acres. She died last year and my father died this year. We made it thru, but it was hard. We had to divide the farm up amongst the siblings. All together 200 hundred acres were put aside for a bird sanctuary bordering the Wallkill River.

It must have been beautiful growing up there…

Oh yeah, we went fishing, swimming in lakes, trapping, skiing. We didn’t have snowmobiles then.

Do you enjoy coming south, mingling with city folks, selling us mushrooms?

I only come down on Saturday. It is a nice change of pace. You meet your customers. It reinforces what you are doing and why you are doing it. I go in to the city, and then I get back on the farm. I get the best of both worlds.

Are you working right now?

I am always working. I am used to working 100 hours a week. To this day, I work nearly ninety hours a week, maybe a little less in the winter but I love what I do. It is a passion.

I believe it was Jim Rodgers who called farmers the new rock stars, soon to be driving Lamborghini’s. Is that funny to you?

Well the Amish have rock stars and their Lamborghini’s are a horse and carriage. It is all in the interpretation of the mind. My Toyota 4- runner is my Lamborghini. I believe the more you give the more you get. The Hindus believe that too, they call it karma.

Your family farmed, but you started growing mushrooms on your own?

Yes. In 1977 in New York, we could grow lettuce only in the summer. California could grow all year-round and they would flood the market in the summers, lowering prices drastically, forcing us out of business. That was the game for years. I had to find another product. I knew they grew mushrooms in Pennsylvania and not New York. There was no competition. I started with the Portobello.

Why are mushrooms so good for us?

Because of the medicinal properties each contain. The Shitake contain lentinin. The Japanese were the first to use lentinin as a drug. They extract it and give it to people on chemotherapy or with HIV to help build the immune system. The oyster mushrooms have the statin. Statin is a drug they developed in 1987 from oyster mushrooms. It helps control blood pressure and cholesterol. Maitake is considered most powerful. It has the beta glucan, a polysaccharide that is highly anti-carcinogenic, a stress reducer that promotes a general well being of the body and increased immune system functioning. Yogis use maitake in a tea that helps them meditate.

Are mushrooms more powerful fresh or dried?

The maitake requires heat, which is why its good when you make the tea, the beta glucan is a polysaccharide that requires heat to release its full power. If you dry a mushroom, it looses the water weight. It becomes more intense in power and flavor. That is why many chefs take the mushrooms, dry them, and then add to their sauces. The sauces explode with complex flavor, a definite chef secret. I give one chef fresh garlic leaves, and he dries them in his dehydrator and adds it to his food. Different from garlic powder; he uses it the same way. This flavor is real.

No MSG in the dried garlic leaf powder?

Oh god no. I grow everything organically and there are absolutely no chemicals. You can always add your own chemicals later, but you are not going to get them from me.

Are you certified organic?

No. I do not need to go through the bureaucracy, just to have a label. It’s what you are doing that matters. I juice a lot so it is important to me personally that there are no chemicals in the food. I do not want chemicals on my carrots or yours. I guess the commercial guys feel that they have to do it that way. It is harder work to grow organically, but it is important to people, so we do it.

Do you think of your self as an activist?

I am an activist because I am excited about what I do. I believe food should be fresh. When I sell mushrooms to people, I tell them, do not go home, and leave these in your fridge for five days. Unless you are drying them, eat these now. The older the food the more tired you feel the more work your body does to derive the nutrients. Then you age faster. I do not know if they have done a study on that but they should. Compare people who are eating canned stuff with people who are eating fresh stuff and see who is aging faster, who has more diseases, and who goes to the doctor more.

Do you see a growing interest in small local food production?

Oh definitely, people are into the markets. Even in the poor economy. People know the fresher the food you eat, the better you feel and the better you are going to function. It is going to cut your health care costs. You are not going to be paying so much to doctors. I have markets all over the city and talk to all kinds of people. In the end, with over 250 languages in queens alone, when we get to the farmers market we are all communicating. We are all there for a common purpose.  The people in New York are all very grateful, not self-serving. The people of New York are good people. That’s it.

Filed under: Artisans, cooking, Eating local at home, Farmers, Farmers Markets, Local Food, MycoMedicinals, Policy, Restaurants Tagged: | Artisanal, CENYC, Community Markets, Eating local, Farmers, food, garlic leaves, Grand Army Plaza, Local Food, Madura Farms, Maitake, Medicinal, Mushrooms, Orange County, Oyster Mushrooms, Shitake, Statin