My name is Dani Tavano, and I am a fungus-lover. You have probably seen me wandering around under the trees with my basket and my knife. You probably thought I was strange. Maybe you even suspected that I’m nuts, or that I have some sort of death wish. “Aren’t most mushrooms poisonous?”

To the casual observer, it may seem that I like to play it fast and loose with my life – that I prefer to “live on the edge.” But what they don’t know is that I’ve been mycologically obsessed for four years, and the mushrooms that I collect, study, and eat are more than just specimens or food…they have become my friends. I know them intimately: their preferences, their idiosyncrasies, their habits… I can recognize one from a distance, and I could pick one out of a crowd. I’ve seen them on bad hair days and good hair days and all the in-between days. My eyes are so finely tuned to them that I once spotted a chanterelle from 2 meters away while whizzing past at 30 miles per hour!

The casual observer also doesn’t understand what drives me to do what I do. Why would I care to eat anything that doesn’t come prepackaged for consumption at the supermarket? Why would I risk my life for a side dish? Why would I traipse around in the rain and dig in the dirt for mushrooms, of all things?! The lowliest of foods, most mysterious and reviled among all the vegetables…Even their colloquial name hints at our disdain for these most misunderstood of creatures: toadstool. Why, they are so undeserving of our praise or attention that even frogs crap on them!

And yet, if you have ever heard anything positive about fungi, it is probably that they naturally produce compounds that are medicinally beneficial to humans, some of which we have used to synthesize drugs such as Penicillin and Cyclosporine. Fungi also play a crucial role in the ecosystems they inhabit, and in the biosphere at large, as they are the planet’s ultimate recyclers. They can decompose anything from dead leaves and dead bodies to poop, polyurethane, and phenolic resins. In fact, if it wasn’t for fungi, we’d all be waist-deep in our own filth! (And other organisms’ filth too, for the sake of realism.)

So why do fungi get such a bad rap? I’ll tell you why: ages upon ages of social conditioning that is largely based on fear. Fear of the unknown (as most people don’t know much, if anything, about mushrooms) and fear of death (which is what most people assume happens quite frequently among the mushroom-hunting community.) The fear of fungi is called mycophobia. Unfortunately, it is a social norm that has been passed down from generation to generation, and is still quite prevalent in the western world, even after all these years.

I’m here to show you that mushrooms aren’t ugly, slimy things to be feared or despised. They are creatures of subtle but immense power and beauty. They deserve to be appreciated and respected, not only because of what they do for us, but because of what they do for Planet Earth, this little blue dot we call home. It is my firm conviction that knowledge dispels fear. Therefore, as someone who is knowledgeable about fungi, I feel it is my personal duty to educate others and hopefully dispel some of that ancient instinctual fear that lingers around mushrooms.

So, back to the question: “What drives me to hunt for and eat wild mushrooms?” The answer to that question is almost as complex as the process itself. On a superficial level, I love to eat! It thrills me to taste strange and delicious foods. I’ll try anything once, if it’s generally known to be safe to eat.

On a deeper level, I am driven by my love of fungi. I enjoy researching them, looking for them, taking pictures of them, studying them, and finally eating them if they are edible and tasty! The more I learn about them, the more deeply I love them. At the same time, the many unsolved mysteries of mycology tantalize and excite me, beckoning me ever onward to uncover their tightly-held secrets.

At an even deeper level, I hunt and eat mushrooms and other wild foods as a deliberate communion with the Earth, and in particular with my little neck of the woods known as Northwest Florida. As I see it, foraging is but one manifestation of my personal choice to fully embrace the here and now, and to have a tangible sense of place. I choose to live in the moment and taste the fruits of The Good Earth. I choose to eat local in the most visceral sense. I choose to feel connected to where I live. I choose to cultivate a sense of appreciation, respect, and stewardship for this place that I call home. All of these seemingly small choices that I make every day create in me an overarching sense of fulfillment, peace, and joy…and I wouldn’t give up them up for anything in the world.

I hope you’ll join me in my adventures.