Our relationship with mycelium
The (short-version) origin story of MyForest Foods
You already know that we make food using mycelium. You’ve heard that it’s a pretty incredible ingredient; naturally tasty and nutritious.
But what you may not know is that MyForest Foods has a deep relationship with mycelium. We didn’t just stumble our way into this revolutionary food category; there’s a history. The story technically traces all the way back to Mother Nature, but for the short version, we’ll start with our co-founder, Eben.
EBEN
Eben was born into farm life. He’ll be the first to tell you he came into this world ON the farmhouse floor. Life among the cows, chickens and maple trees suited him just fine as a kid—always outside, always learning and discovering.
But like most teens, when it came time for college, Eben couldn’t wait to fly the coop. He was accepted to RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) in Troy, NY, where he pursued a dual degree in Mechanical Engineering and Design.
It was here that Eben enrolled in a course that would change the trajectory of his ride aboard Spaceship Earth.
BURT
RPI Professor Burt Swersey had a reputation. He was relentless, always pressing his students to think bigger. To try harder. His renowned course, “The Inventor’s Studio,” was designed around the pursuit of solving real problems. “Don’t do nonsense,” he would say.
When Eben turned his final class project in early, Burt pushed back and refused it. “Do something meaningful,” he challenged, sending him back to the drawing board.
Having spent endless hours shoveling wood chips on the farm as a kid, Eben recalled the curious, threadlike root system each shovel-full revealed. He noted the way these mycelium fibers naturally wove together, creating a dense, thick, curiously malleable structure. That’s when Eben teamed up with his college cohort, Gavin McIntyre, to work on a new project that proposed mycelium as a compostable replacement for plastic.
Professor Swersey wasn’t just impressed; he was moved to invest in the duo’s idea and provide dedicated lab space at RPI to further the research. Eben already had a job lined up—he refused his professor’s pitch. Thankfully, Burt’s incessant nature—and his immense belief in his students’ potential—won out. The mycelium pursuit was on.
ECOVATIVE
Thanks to Professor Swersey’s support, Eben and Gavin turned their mycelium ideas into mycelium solutions, founding Ecovative Design in 2007. Ecovative is an Earth-minded play on “innovative,” if you didn’t catch that on your own. :)
Ecovative’s foundational technology, MycoComposite™, combines crop waste and mycelium to grow a biodegradable packing foam alternative.
Ecovative has also developed an advanced AirMycelium™ platform to produce sheets of 100% pure mycelium for a variety of applications in both the food and fashion industries.
Today, Ecovative holds over 40 patents in 30 countries worldwide for solid-state fermentation and mycelium technology.
THE MYCELIUM FOUNDRY
Ecovative’s research and development lab, the Mycelium Foundry, has created a network of mycelium divisions: Mushroom Packaging (2008), MyForest Foods (2020) and Forager Hides & Foams (2022).
Through the Foundry’s vast mycelium library, each division is equipped with a deep, biological understanding of fungi. Through this knowledge base, each team is able to amplify specific mushroom strains' most useful natural properties to create better packaging, leather, foam and, in our case, food.
FROM THE FOREST, FOR THE FUTURE.
While this brief history lesson helps explain how we arrived where we are today, it’s just a small piece of the story.
Bringing mycelium out of the forest, into the mainstream, and onto the plates of generations to come is a big job. There are SO many humans (and mushrooms) to thank for our progress, not to mention those we’ve still yet to meet—those that will help plot our course to feed the future in a sustainable and delicious new way.
Everytime you follow or share our story, you support our journey. Thank you for being on this ride with us!
And if you’re looking to strengthen your connection with Mycelium, our team is growing: perhaps your next career opportunity awaits…
* Don’t forget to join our underground network!