Interview with the Spore Liberation Front
With a name like Spore Liberation Front, it’s hard to tell what this outfit might be up to. A lot of people might wave their hands and say “they’re just a bunch of ’shroom heads, who think they can change the world.” Well, they would be right about one thing–they are trying to change the world.
Who is the Spore Liberation Front?
Who exactly is the Spore Liberation Front? Recently, MycoRant got a chance for a one-on-one exchange with the group. I contacted them by email and asked some questions. A few of the members got together and collectively agreed to answer my questions.
The group operates out of the Cascadia bioregion (according to that link, provided by the SLF, they are kind of radical) which encompasses Oregon, Washington, Northern California, British Columbia and Southeast Alaska. They have published what is basically a pamphlet, called Radical Mycology, an SLF Primer describing their aims. The pamphlet can be purchased for $4 or downloaded for free.
Radical Mycology from the Spore Liberation Front
The Goals of Radical Mycology
In our first exchange the SLF outlined their goals as follows:
“The Spore Liberation Front (SLF) is a loose collection of eco-activists based out of the Cascadia bioregion. Through our first publication, Radical Mycology, the group seeks to spread spores of information dealing with the variety of ways humans can interact with not only mushrooms but, by extension, the world at large.
“One of the emphasized goals of this process is the advocacy of using mushrooms in a mycoremediative capacity to heal damaged ecosystems. The group also seeks, through the use of their blog at radicalmycology.wordpress.com, to develop and foster a network of like-minded individuals around the world in a mycelial web of people sharing information and networking on issues dealing with ecological preservation and rehabilitation. As there is no formal structure to the group or any way to ‘join,’ all individuals that feel engaged by this work are welcome to call themselves members.”
Since then they have been coy about reveaing any identities, one wonders how they can gauge the effectiveness of their efforts.
“As our goals are based on spreading mycological information and fostering a network of mushroom enthusiasts, we can only gauge our “effectiveness” through the numbers of zines sold, and forum postings about mycoremediation projects, experiments, taxonomy updates, or whatever else on our blog.”
Part of their plan is to allow as many people as possible to copy and distribute their publications. “We feel strongly that this information is highlycontagious and hope to see people putting it to good use and taking action. Indeed, in the last few years a mushroom resurgence seems to be happening among many people in the communities we involve ourselves in. We see knowledge of and use with our fungal allies steadily growing in the years to come.”
The group has put out one issue of Radical Mycology, but they do have plans for more. “We are currently working on a second fruiting body of information that focuses on mycorestoration and the role of fungi in the movement for environmental justice. We also just updated and expanded the Radical Mycology zine, and we plan to infrequently do this as new information becomes available.”
Although mycoremediation is an interesting technology, it hasn’t gotten a lot of traction so far. “Besides the mycorestoration zine mentioned above, we plan to give and organize workshops on mycorestoration, make it easier for people to share resources for such projects, help people find others to work with, and some day organize a big SLF convergence. Members of the SLF have at times been and are involved in mycoremediation projects of varying levels.”
Even thought the SLF organization is nebulous, they do occasionally have meetings. When asked for more details, my SLF contact was not exactly forthcoming. “The SLF is more of an idea than an organization. We don’t have ‘core’ members, just a network of people wanting to work on projects.”
So who are these people really? Are they avid mushroomers? Amateur/professional mycologist with secret identities? Hobby fungus growers? Generic environmental activists?
“All of the above. Here’s one of our stories:
I’ve worked for the last few years as a climate justice/environmental justice organizer and gardener. I first became interested in mushrooms when I moved to Cascadia, and became extremely passionate after reading Paul Stamets’ Mycelium Running in 2006.
Then I met people with similar interests and we formed the SLF. From there, I started learning mushroom identification and cultivation techniques. Our projects included: integrating mushrooms into a permaculture garden, making mushroom paper, and building the foundation of what has become Radical Mycology. Since then the formal group has dissolved, but the ideas, and some of the projects continue.
In general, members of the SLF choose to associate themselves with such an
ideology based not on their activities but through their intentions and
hopes for a better tomorrow.
I really wanted to make a connection with a person, but… no go. “We feel the people involved in whatever the SLF may become are less important than the ideas behind the group. We choose to remain anonymous (more or less) on this question as we strongly feel that the information and belief systems we are advocating for are timeless and faceless.”
The Spore Liberation Front Blog
The SLF wanted to add one more note on their blog:
“The idea is that people can post their projects, theories, trade resources, find out about mushroom related stuff they want to work on, share their discoveries, etc. Unfortunately we are not as blog savvy as we would like and are still working out the kinks in running it. The idea of this new blog is to strengthen the existing networks between fungi and their human allies who are working to decompose destructive elements of industrial civilization, grow food, and help facilitate re-wilding.”
The Spore Liberation Front can be contacted by email.
Tags: Cascadia, mycoremediation, radical mycology, Spore Liberation Front
