Join us at Chelsea Market’s Makers’ Studio for an evening of mushroom education, food and music with multidisciplinary citizen scientist and founder of MycoSymbiotics, William Padilla-Brown, AKA Permaculture Papi.
For most urbanites, the urban food chain begins at the local grocery store and ends at home as waste. We can re-define waste by taking measures such as taking our food scraps and creating soil, growing our own food, and making a true food chain.
Fungi and their mushrooms are the best teachers in showing us how we can turn waste into abundance. From foraging to composting, let’s learn how we can redefine our urban food-chain.
Joining Padilla-Brown in conversation is world-renowned filmmaker and ethnobotanist, Anthony Basil Rodriguez, whose work largely focuses on highlighting wild species of bananas around the world.
After the talk, William, who is also a rapper, will treat audience members to a performance of his original music while guests can enjoy a beverage and a tasting of mushroom empanadas made by our friends at Eat Offbeat with MycoSymbiotics Cordy Hot Sauce.
This program is made possible by our sponsor, Chelsea Market.
Re-Designing the Urban Food-Chain is the second in a four-part series exploring Indigenous Foodways that will take place at the Makers’ Studio in Chelsea Market.
WILLIAM PADILLA-BROWN
William Padilla-Brown is a Multidisciplinary Citizen Scientist practicing social science, mycology, phycology, molecular biology, and additive manufacturing. William founded and is the current CEO of MycoSymbiotics, a permaculture research and production business based in Central Pennsylvania focused on innovative practical applied biological science.
William is constantly in the mix of Contemporary Ritual in a nuanced modern Urban Shamanism, spending his time vlogging for social media, writing, contributing for Fungi mag, researching, rapping, singing, and loving his Beautiful Lady Lydia and their son Leo. William holds Permaculture Design Certificates acquired through Susquehanna Permaculture and NGOZI, and a Certificate from the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences for completing their Algal Culturing Techniques Course. William published the first books written in the English language on Cordyceps cultivation. William regularly teaches k-12 classes around the United States, for universities including Cornell’s Small Farms Program, private clubs, and events, as well as offers private consultations. In 2021 William’s research has been sponsored by MUDwtr, and affiliated with Mydecine, Oxford Nanopore, MiniPCR, ExtractCraft, and OmegaBiotek. William and his work have been featured on Fantastic Fungi, VICE, Buzzfeed, The Verge, Outside Magazine, Civil Eats, Public Goods, The Book “One Earth” , and much more.
ANTHONY BASIL RODRIGUEZ
Anthony Basil Rodriguez is an international filmmaker, photographer, and ethnobotanist. Since childhood, he has been oriented toward a range of visual worlds. As a teenager, Anthony began carrying an old film camera that his younger brother had lying around from a school project. Eventually taking his hobby more seriously, Anthony obtained a job pushing carts to buy his first digital camera. One day after a thunderstorm, a local news station discovered him knee-deep in floodwaters collecting photos of the aftermath. He spent the following three years submerged in live television, editing daily newscasts. During this time, he honed and developed a true eye and skill for editing, videography, and ultimately storytelling. Since leaving the news industry, he has explored the deep jungles of Borneo and the Solomon Islands to the high mountain Himalayas of North East India. He continues to travel the world documenting rare plants, diverse cultures, and the flux of global society.
CHELSEA MARKET
Located in the heart of New York City's Meatpacking District, Chelsea Market is a food and retail marketplace with a global perspective