FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 28, 2022

McCORMICK COUNTY – World-renowned mushroom expert and author Tradd Cotter will visit the South Carolina Governor’s School for Agriculture at John de la Howe on Thursday, April 21 for a public event at the school’s dairy barn.

Mr. Cotter will offer his fascinating presentation, “Opportunities With Fungi That Can Change The World,” at 6:15 p.m. There will be a social hour beginning at 5 p.m. featuring food truck item for sale by Michelle’s and live music from The Voyagers. A book-signing will follow the event
Seating is limited to 150 tickets. Advance tickets may be purchased for $6 at the school and at the McCormick County Chamber of Commerce office, 100 Main Street in downtown McCormick.

Mr. Cotter is a microbiologist and best-selling author who grew up near Charleston but now owns and operates Mushroom Mountain, a 26-acre farm and research facility near Easley in Pickens County. He is regarded as one of the premier authorities in mycology, the study of mushrooms, and has been featured in National Geographic magazine and in the 2019 documentary Fantastic Fungi.

In 2015, he published his book, Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation. It was described in Publishers Weekly as a “
comprehensive introduction to growing and utilizing fungi (that) has something for all mushroom-inclined readers, be they individuals curious about growing edible fungi in their backyards or basements, prospective mushroom farmers setting up
large growing systems, educators from kindergarten to college levels, or innovators
experimenting with eco-friendly materials.”
The book is just part of Mr. Cotter’s larger mission at Mushroom Mountain.“To me, this book is much more than a cultivation guide. It is about healing the people and the planet, one mushroom and one cultivator at a time, reversing destructive cycles into creative forces,” he is quoted as saying on his Amazon.com profile. “If we think with an opportunistic yet minimalistic approach much like a mushroom, taking what it needs to survive and then returning
resources to its ecosystem so they can be used by others, the future looks like somewhere I want to be… From old-growth forests to mulched urban sidewalks to fruiting growths on debris floating out at sea, fungi are everywhere – and there’s much to be learned from them.”

During his talk at the South Carolina Governor’s School for Agriculture, Mr. Cotter will discuss practical techniques for growing mushrooms, including building materials, medicinal compounds, soil building and cultivation. He also will explore the latest research into mushrooms and what innovations in mycology could be on the horizon involving fungi and human civilization.