by The Mushroom Council, guest contributor
The trend is to blend. Are you in?
The Blend is a movement emerging nationwide, and it features the craft of blending finely chopped mushrooms with ground meat (beef, turkey, chicken, lamb) for meals that are more delicious, nutritious and sustainable.
Think mushroom-blended burgers, tacos, meatloaf, meatballs and more. Because mushrooms are dense with nutrients such as Vitamin D, and reduce fat and sodium intake, the Blend makes food healthier. Its inherent umami makes the dish more flavorful.
And, as mushrooms require less water and energy to produce than meat, blended dishes are more earth-friendly.
FamilyFarmed‘s Good Food Festival & Conference marks one of the first public events in 2017 to showcase the Blend. Visit the Mushrooom Council at table 44-45 — on Friday during The Good Food Trade Show and on Saturday during the Good Food Festival — to sample Paul Caravelli of Chicago’s Knife & Tine‘s take on a blended meatball.
The Blend is connecting with people in restaurants, cafeterias and kitchens. The Blend has to-date been served by hundreds of universities and K-12 school districts nationwide. Since 2015, the James Beard Foundation has conducted the annual, summer-long “Blended Burger Project” competition featuring more than 500 restaurants menuing their creative spins on the Blend; consumers voted more than two million times for their favorites.
Media outlets such as NBC’s The Today Show and the Wall Street Journal spotlighted The Blend in recent months. And, a recent survey conducted for The Mushroom Council finds that 98 percent of all consumers who have tried a mushroom-meat blended dish plan to enjoy it again.
To learn more about FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Festival & Conference, buy tickets for Friday’s Trade Show, and pre-register for Saturday’s FREE Good Food Festival, please visit the event website.
So hit blenditarian.com to join the growing movement to “do better.” Post your #Blenditarian love on Instagram or Twitter to be featured on our Buzz page. Enter to win blenditarian swag!
Are you ready to join the Blend trend?