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R & R Cultivation, the state’s largest urban mushroom farm, is committed to more than just its crops.
The New Hope farm hosted Rep. Ilhan Omar for a tour on Wednesday, but owner Nick Robinson looks for any excuse to talk fungi.
“I bore people all the time with having to talk about mushrooms,” he said. “My wife is like, ‘yeah, no more please.’ So anytime someone’s like, ‘hey, I’d like to talk about mushrooms,’ I tend to jump at it.”
The business keeps its operation in-house.
“So we’re a vertically-integrated farm, which means we do everything from our own lab work, all the way to growing and distributing mushrooms — everything, top to bottom, all the way through,” Robinson said.
A visit from a sitting member of the House of Representatives is higher profile than the farm’s typical visitor. Robinson said most people aren’t sure how to find them.
“‘Where?’ That’s the first thing everyone says,” he said. “It’s like, where is it? It’s in a big warehouse, in the middle of the city. But yeah, as they’re walking through here, they’re just like, this is incredible. I’ve never seen anything exactly like this.”
The scale of the operation is impressive — but is topped by an otherworldly, foggy glow inside the grow rooms, where the fungus grows in unexpected colors.
The business grows several varieties of mushrooms including Black King, Lion’s Mane, Golden Oyster and Shiitake. Mushrooms are often called a superfood due to their noted health benefits.
Once fully grown, the business packages and ships the mushrooms to grocery stores, co-ops, farmers markets and restaurants around the Twin Cities. Lunds & Byerlys, Kowalski’s and Hy-Vee stores stock their products.
There’s about 30 full-time, year-round workers at the farm, with more on staff when farmer’s markets are in-season.
For Robinson, paying the employees fairly and running a responsible business were more significant motivators than growing mushrooms.
“So we were always trying to keep a livable wage going, and we still continue that,” he said. “We have a transparent pay schedule, so that no individual person gets raises, it’s either we all raise up as a company or we stay the same.”
He said that commitment was worth showing off.
“You walk around and people are smiling,” he said. “It’s hard work, obviously, but people enjoy being here. People get to show up for who they are and as they are, and just come in here and do a great job.”
SOURCE: CCX MEDIA
