New York City – For the second year, the Mushroom Council is devoting Earth Month (April) to showcasing mushrooms’ sustainability via a collaboration with Kittch, the innovative 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.
The objective: Inspire home cooks to incorporate more mushrooms into their meals in April and throughout the year while also reminding them why sustainably grown mushrooms are considered “The Official Ingredient of Earth Month.”
Last year’s inaugural Earth Month collaboration between 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 making mushrooms center stage this month include:
Chad Rosenthal, chef-owner of The Lucky Well and Motel Fried Chicken in Philadelphia, Food Network Personality
- April 7, 2 p.m. ET, featuring Seared Royal Trumpet Banh Mi with White Button Pâté
Sarah Grueneberg, chef and partner of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio in Chicago, James Beard Award Winner, Cookbook Author
- April 11, 6 p.m. ET, featuring 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, Philadelphia, New York City
- April 17, 6 p.m. ET, featuring Oyster Mushroom and Mussel Mazeman
Mei Lin, chef-owner Daybird in Los Angeles, Top Chef Winner, Food & Wine’s Best New Restaurant
- April 24, 1 p.m. ET, featuring King Trumpet Dan Dan “Noodles”
In addition to the livestreams in April, participating chefs 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,” said chef Kiki Aranita. “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!”
Mushrooms: A Minimal Footprint
Consider why researchershave 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 .7 lbs. of CO2 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.
About the Mushroom Council:
The Mushroom Council is composed of fresh market producers and importers who average 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 Agricultural Marketing Service. Research and promotion programs help to expand, maintain and develop markets for individual agricultural commodities in the United States and abroad. These industry self-help programs are requested and funded by the industry groups that they serve. For more information, visit mushroomcouncil.com
About Kittch
Mid 2022, Kittch launched as the first-ever live streaming platform for chefs and culinary artists. Today, Kittch is the fastest growing media hub devoted exclusively to food content, commerce and community. The platform hosts over 600 carefully-curated chefs, culinary influencers and brands – a number that increases each week. With its deep-rooted access to culinary creators, Kittch sits at the epicenter of today’s culinary revolution, with a unique ability to connect brands to an engaged, food-loving audience. Check out what some of the press has said about Kittch via Fast Company, Vanity Fair and ABC Local-ish. Brand Partnership Sizzle
