Today on Mushroom Hour we have the honor of being joined by Elan Hagens. Elan Hagens is a native Oregonian who has been playing in the woods, wildcrafting and going to outdoor education classes her entire life.  Her passion for everything animals and the outdoors led her to working with dogs in in her early 20s. Following that path landed her an opportunity to participate in a dog based reality show on CBS! Later work at an Iditarod sled dog kennel and training her dogs how to forage for native Oregon truffles further deepened her love for everything outdoors and led to her creating Temptress Truffles a decade ago.  Temptress Truffles is all about wild foraging, wildcrafting and connecting people to the outdoors. Elan loves watching people learn how to engage with nature in different ways besides technical outdoor sports and activities. She teaches classes in mushroom foraging, food Justice and nature crafting. In January 2021 she cofounded a new business called Fruiting Bodies Collective. Through an excellent podcast show, a growing facilitator training program and other projects, the Fruiting Bodies Collective hopes to destigmatize psychedelics and serve marginalized groups. All of Elan’s projects seem to stem from a deep-rooted passion for sharing her lifelong love of everything outdoors and helping everyone, no matter their background, to appreciate the natural environment as she does.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Nature-Loving Tagalong with a Mother Who Loves Fresh Food   
• Becoming a Reality TV Star   
• Intentional Choices of Sponsors and Partnerships   
• Truffle Fundamentals   
• The Secret to Truffle Hunting - Habitat    
• “Raked Truffles” vs Dog-Found Truffles   
• Running a Foraged-Goods Business    
• Indigenous Land Acknowledgement   
• BIPOC Representation in the Outdoors   
• Mycological Elitism   
• Harvesting Wild Clay, Building Community   
• Fruiting Bodies Collective    
• Engaging and Educating as Psilocybin Emerges into the Mainstream   
• Black and Indigenous Representation in Psychedelic Spaces   

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• Temptress Truffles IG: https://www.instagram.com/temptresstruffles/   
• Fruiting Bodies Collective IG: https://www.instagram.com/fruitingbodiesco/   
• Danner - Elan Hagens: https://vimeo.com/551545643   
• Sparassis crispa (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparassis_crispa