The First RMC
Burlap chip spawn bags on the way to the experimental mycoremediation installation
The one that started it all. After photocopying and distributing thousands of Radical Mycology zines around the world for several years with his own two hands, Peter McCoy teamed up with a crew of friends to put together the first Radical Mycology Convergence on a mid-September weekend. Originally envisioned as a low key hang of 50-ish eco activists talking about mushrooms, the event quickly spurred into a gathering of nearly 300 people after word got out.
There was no schedule, no budget – just the hope that if we built it, the mycos would come. And they did – from around the world. They shared their knowledge. They donated and dumpstered produce. A roadkill deer was processed and honored. Rumors of big names coming thankfully proved to only be rumors. Fires were stoked. A dance partied raged. Friendships were fostered and flourished. And the burgeoning of a movement could be felt in every conversation.
That weekend highlighted the silent and growing need for reconsidering the human-fungal relationship. The first RMC centered on not just co-creating that space for exchanging ideas in this regards, but, most importantly, for co-creating a sense of community and culture around what was at the time still a very fringe notion.
Prepping substrates for chip spawn bags
Andy MacKinnon (of the famed Pojar & MacKinnon field guide) breaking down lichens
Though the event has grown from its humble origins, we still sit and ask ourselves every time we gather, “What does this all mean – for us, for our children, for the wild, and for the fungi?” and “How can we honor these allies better, and with clearer intent?”
As we invite you to join us this October, we reaffirm that intention and ask you to sit with these questions as well. As mushrooms, et al explode in popularity, we aim to keep our focus on where this special event matters most: in the creation of nourishing and enduring relationships for everyone – mycofolk, mushroom, and microbe – that takes part in the shared journey.
The indelible Richard Gaines getting wild
