Pursuits of Happiness
ARM : Great question . The most common deadly mushroom in Vermont is the destroying angel ( Amanita bisporigera ).
JEB : It sounds harmless ( laughs ).
ARM : It really is a destroyer . It can kill a healthy adult , just a couple , even one mushroom potentially , so it ’ s not something you want to ever inadvertently eat . It is actually the first mushroom that we teach people about at our workshops and presentations . We want people to know not to eat the destroying angel or not to even eat anything that looks at all like it .
eyes , you can check our little handout that we call the ForageCast that we give people on a guided foray for that day . It tells them what to keep their eyes out for . We also publish that on our website on the regional level every summer and fall , and spring during morel season too .
JEB : It sounds incredibly clever . I hope you are working on a way to protect that name .
ARM : Yeah , we are . We are looking forward to protecting the intellectual property right . At the intersection of law and my environmental interest , as we started .
JEB : Yes , of course . You mentioned foodies . Do you have recipes on your website , because I know the “ eat more kale ” site has some great recipes that I have used .
ARM : Yes we do and I encourage people to check that out . We have been doing this for about 8 years now so we have a big archive of blog stories and ForageCasts and recipes on themushroomforager . com .
JEB : I cannot tell you how many people when I told them that I was interviewing a mushroom forager , they immediately make an assumption that I ’ m talking about those mushrooms . So , I have to ask the question about psychedelic mushrooms-- are any in Vermont and what is the deal with psychedelic mushrooms ?
ARM : Vermont is a much better place for the gourmet and medicinal species . I would say that gourmet and medicinal are the focus of our workshops , although we of course do get those questions as well . I think that it reflects our mycophobia that people assume that mushrooms means psychedelic mushrooms . If you mention a plant , people might think of kale or rhubarb or whatever , not nightshade , so even though fungi are a whole kingdom and there certainly are mushrooms with many interesting properties be they psychedelic , medicinal , or culinary , that comes to mind here . But I would say that Vermont is an ideal place for these gourmet species and not quite prime hunting ground for the psychedelic varieties .
JEB : Well that is like a northwest kind of thing , right ?
ARM : The northwest is where people usually pursue those , and honestly , you have got to be really careful because a lot of those mushrooms are in a group called LBM ’ s ( little brown mushrooms ). The term “ LBM ” refers to many different little brown mushrooms , some of which are deadly , some which are highly toxic , and all of which are sort of non-descript and look similar , so LBM ’ s are not a very safe place to start foraging .
JEB : Right , and psychedelic mushrooms are having a reaction with your body , so they are technically poisonous , right ?
ARM : Um , yeah , I do think that they would be considered a subset of poisonous species . Yes .
JEB : So speaking of poisonous , so what is the most dangerous thing to come across in Vermont ?
JEB : Wait , so you start with fearing the mushroom ?
ARM : The general tone of our workshop is combatting mycophobia and encouraging people to appreciate the wonders of the mycological world , but you know most of that fear is exaggerated but some of it has a basis in reality , like any fear . There are actually deadly mushrooms right here in Vermont , so it is important to know the stakes are too high to take risks .
JEB : But you can touch them , is that right ?
ARM : Yes , you can touch any mushroom as long as you don ’ t have a rare allergy . All the time if you go on a guided tour , you will see me picking up destroying angels and other related mushrooms in the Amanita genus . I will pick them up all the time and show people to demonstrate how to recognize a genus to avoid eating , given the number of poisonous or deadly Amanitas , but also that they are generally safe to touch .
JEB : So do you immediately have to wash your hands ? What if you had something in your eye or you lick your finger or something ?
ARM : They aren ’ t that strong . You don ’ t want to take a bite or lick it , but it ’ s generally not going to hurt you unless you eat it .
JEB : That is good to know ! And then there are ones that are potentially deadly in Vermont .
ARM : Yes , and with the destroying angel , the reason why it is such a common culprit is because it looks innocuous , it ’ s white and it looks a bit like a button mushroom so we associate it with the ones we see in the grocery store . It looks good and big and fleshy , and those who have been lucky enough to survive it , can even say that it tastes good ! But you cannot rely on common sense or intuition here at all . You cannot just eat it because it looks appetizing and harmless because it may not be . There was actually a Cornell student who survived the destroying angel and posted an interesting story about it online .
12 THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • SPRING 2017 www . vtbar . org