Avondale, PA – To help promote a greater appreciation and use of mushrooms, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officially declared September National Mushroom Month with a formal proclamation signed by USDA Secretary Sonny Purdue, the American Mushroom Institute announced.
The mushroom industry plays a significant role in the nation’s economy. The value of the 2017-2018 U.S. mushroom crop totaled 1.23 billion, which translates to 917 million pounds sold, according to the recent National Agriculture Statistics Service report.
“There’s a lot to love about mushrooms. They are the superhero of the produce aisle, available in a variety of tastes and textures, packed with powerful nutrients and contain no cholesterol or fat,” said Lori Harrison, communications manager, American Mushroom Institute. “In addition to its health benefits, mushrooms are also naturally sustainable, with much of the growing medium recycled for other industries, crops and commercial uses.”
The proclamation recognizes that mushroom production is an important part of American agriculture, the valuable crop helps to increase the sales and profits not only of growers and wholesalers but of restauranteurs and grocers, mushrooms growers contribute to environmental well-being by efficiently utilizing agricultural byproducts, and more than 2,500 mushroom varieties are grown in the world today and that mushrooms enhance any meal.
A copy of the proclamation can be found here.
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About AMI
The American Mushroom Institute (AMI), headquartered in Avondale, Pennsylvania, is a national voluntary trade association representing the growers, processors and marketers of cultivated mushrooms in the United States and industry suppliers worldwide. For more information, visit www.americanmushroom.org.
Source: The American Mushroom Institute (AMI)