Bluff City Fungi – Memphis Flyer

COVID-19 is radically changing how local restaurants operate, and, in tow, local farmers are facing mounting challenges as well.

“To be completely frank, it’s run us ragged,” says Scott Lisenby, who operates Bluff City Fungi.

“Our day-to-day operations have changed dramatically almost overnight. We’re running on a skeleton crew, and we’re working at 110 percent to keep up with the almost daily changes,” he says.

Fungus among us: Bluff City Fungi

Local restaurants are reporting dramatic losses in sales, which has had an inevitable impact on the farmers from whom they source their food.

For example, Ed Cabigao, one of the owners of Zaka Bowl, Interim, and South of Beale, has experienced this phenomenon at each of those restaurants — which all source food from local farmers.

“Interim experienced an 80 percent drop in sales instantly,” Cabigao says. “S.O.B. experienced a 30 percent drop in sales initially, and it has now dropped to around 50 percent. Zaka Bowl experienced a 50 percent drop in sales and has held at that.

“Interim was the first concept where we closed the dining room because of sales, and also because it’s pretty clear that the pandemic should be taken very seriously,” he says. “We are right next to a retirement home and a pediatrician’s office, so that helped strengthen our decision.”

The effects of restaurant closures like these have been felt throughout the local farming community.

“Since farming takes months and months of planning ahead, we have tens of thousands of dollars worth of product coming up and no one to sell it to,” Lisenby explains.

“The majority of our business is direct to restaurants and wholesalers, and, understandably so, almost every single one of those streams of income has dried up overnight,” he adds.

“The nature of the restaurant business relies on a constant flow of sales every single day, and when a sharp, unprecedented decrease happens so swiftly, and coupled with the fact that there has been no direction or leadership in terms of when we can expect the pandemic to pass, it forces us as business owners to make very difficult decisions,” says Cabigao.

Though they’re considered essential businesses, farmers markets are having to make tough decisions, too. It was recently announced that the opening of this year’s Memphis Farmers Market (MFM), originally scheduled for April 4th, would be delayed and projected to open on May 9th instead.

“We feel it is our responsibility to do our part to flatten the curve and help stop the transmission of this virus through our city,” says Robert Marcy, executive director of MFM.

“Please know that we made this decision with the entire MFM community in mind, as the health of our vendors, customers, volunteers, and staff is most important, and whatever measures we need to take to ensure their health and safety are the proper ones,” he adds.

Sandy Watson, market director of the Cooper-Young Farmers Market, is also adapting rapidly to changing circumstances.

“This situation can’t help but have a lasting impact — the community has been forced to cook at home more now that restaurants are closed,” says Watson, recognizing that the need to access fresh food is more important than ever.

“Will that continue after this is over? Will restaurants be able to recover from this? Some will not,” Watson says.

It’s not too late to support your local farmers, and many have transitioned to online sales and home delivery.

Lisenby offers his own advice: “Please shop local. Please. Your farmers are adapting to better serve you right now, many will deliver or ship right to your door, many are still working farmers markets with ramped up safety protocols.

“Reach out to your favorite local farms and see what your options are for supporting them,” Lisenby suggests.

Find out more about your options from local farmers markets at memphisfarmersmarket.org and cycfarmersmarket.org, or order from Bluff City Fungi at bluffcityfungi.com.

Bluff City Fungi, an indoor Certified Naturally Grown mushroom farm, has been providing fresh mushrooms to local and regional grocers, restaurants, and farmers markets for nearly five years.

Chances are that if you recently dined out at a place like 117 Prime, Sweet Grass, or Interim, you’ve already tasted Bluff City Fungi’s buttons and portabellas — but most people wouldn’t know that these delicacies were grown right here in the middle of our city.

Scott Lisenby, the mushroom mastermind behind Bluff City Fungi, first started growing mushrooms as a hobby while running a produce and flower farm full-time. “I tried to do mushrooms on the side because I was just fascinated with it,” he says. “I didn’t really know anything about mushrooms — I just loved the process.”

But he quickly realized that this hobby of his could be the best way to differentiate himself from other local farmers. “At first I was focused on flowers and vegetables, but that’s really hard work, and there’s a ton of competition here,” Lisenby says.

Scott Lisenby

Bluff City Fungi

“We saw that there was this huge need for mushrooms that nobody was filling and just sort of switched tracks and reinvested everything into mushrooms to see if it would work. From then on, it’s literally just been small iterations of building and putting everything back into the mushroom business.”

It seems that decision has paid off. Bluff City Fungi has experienced rapid growth in recent years, but with that, there have also been some minor growing pains. To account for their increased production, they’ve needed to move into a larger space; but with a staff of just three people and a packed calendar, that was no easy feat.

“The expansion has been insane because we haven’t been able to take a couple weeks or a month off, and then move, and then restart,” Lisenby says. “We’ve been running our old farmers market route from Oxford to Nashville to Memphis and Little Rock — and we’ve been doing all that while we’re building this, too. So it’s been like doing a regular day and then coming here and doing a whole second work day on top of that, almost every day for three months. But it’s been super worth it.”

One of the best things about Bluff City Fungi is the sheer variety of mushrooms they offer. “We grow probably five or six set varieties, but I’ve got like 30 to 50 species in my actual cultural library,” says Lisenby. “So we’ll bring out some specialty stuff every now and then, just to keep from getting bored.”

Whether you’re seeking out oyster, shiitake, or chestnut mushrooms — or something more exotic — there’s a lot to choose from. And the farm produces about 400 pounds of mushrooms per week, which is both exciting and chaotic for the people growing them.

“Farming takes a level of dedication and gluttony for punishment as it is. But with mushroom farming, you’re trying to create such a controlled system in an absolutely impossible-to-control world,” Lisenby explains, adding that finding a day off can be rare. “Just this year, I’ve finally been able to take some Sundays off. This is definitely more of a lifestyle than a job.”

What makes Lisenby’s dedication to growing mushrooms even more endearing is that he wasn’t especially a fan of them from the start. “What’s really funny — and I probably shouldn’t tell people this — is that I didn’t like eating mushrooms when I started doing this,” he says.

“I just found the blend of science and agriculture fascinating. But over time, working with so many great chefs, they taught me the right way to eat them. Since I got a couple tips and tricks on how to cook them, I eat them almost every other day now. Plus it’s, you know, right here. Easy to grab,” he says with a laugh.

You can grab some fungi for yourself at their next farmers market appearance or through their website at bluffcityfungi.com.