With billions of pounds of food waste in the United States each year, two companies that competed in this week’s Grow-NY competition have different approaches to reducing it.  

Mush Foods, a Poughkeepsie-based business, is a product meant to be a meat hybrid made from mushroom mycelium that is blended with traditional meat products.  

When Shalom Daniel first developed the product, he thought it would be an option for the alternative meat market. However, he realized that the market is small and crowded.  

Making major changes to an industry takes time, Daniel said, and the food industry is no different.  

“It’s not something that is only functional, we’re not eating only to not be hungry. It’s part of a social thing. It’s culture and tradition, so it’s going to take much more time to change that,” he said.  

Rather than trying to add to a crowded industry of alternative meat options, Daniel took a different approach.  

“What if we can reduce 50% of the meat consumption within the meat product? So, you can have your burger, you can have your meat, but only half of it and the other portions will be our product,” Daniel said.  

The method uses food and agriculture waste to produce a unique substrate to grow mycelium from four mushroom species that are grown in highly efficient indoor facilities.  

The mushrooms are then blended with traditional meat to improve the nutritional value, provide an umami taste and increase moisture levels, Daniel said.

“When you combine it and blend it with the meat, it absorbs all the blood, all the fat and juiciness that you have in the meat and it acts as a natural binder,” he said.  

The selling point for this product is that it is better for you, Daniel said.  

“It reduces 50% of cholesterol, 50% of saturated fats and 20% of the calories. Even the salt level is down because you have the umami flavor,” Daniel said.  

Additionally, the mushrooms provide fiber that meat does not contain. The frozen product also has a shelf life of up to 18 months, Daniel said.  

Mush Foods was awarded a $250,000 prize at the Grow-NY competition in Binghamton this year, and Daniel plans to continue to expand his company in New York.

Grow-NY is an annual competition for agriculture and food startup companies to compete for one prize of $1 million, two $500,000 prizes and four $250,000 prizes. The winning companies are expected to bring jobs to New York by creating or expanding their facilities in the state. 

Reducing food waste in the home

In another approach to decrease food waste, Rachelle McCray developed Wisely, a smart food storage container and app.  

“It’s a way for you to remember your leftovers so whether you look at the container or you use our app, you’ll be able to look at what’s going on with your food at home or if you are away,” McCray said.  

The idea is that while consumers are at the store, they can see what is in their fridge.  

“Wisely will tell you, you’ve got lasagna in there and then we can offer a recipe suggestion that goes great with lasagna like salad, so maybe when you are at the grocery store you can shop smarter,” she said.  

Additionally, Wisely, based in North Carolina, will track meals that are made frequently and provide suggestions based on that data.  

“Maybe you make lasagna four times a month because you think it saves money or because your family really enjoys it, but Wisely detected that you’re throwing out more lasagna than needed, so it would suggest making less or remembering to eat it more often,” McCray said.  

Wisely is not meant to be a food spoilage detector, but it will provide suggestions based on USDA standard guidelines for keeping food.  

“We will give suggestions like, your chicken has been stored for three days and the USDA recommends that you either want to compost it or do whatever you are going to do with it,” McCray said.  

The mission of McCray’s product is to cut down on the amount of food that is thrown away from households by reminding people that it exists in their fridges.  

“It’s not because people don’t like their food or don’t want to eat it, they forget. They forget about what they put in the container, and it gets shoved to the back and Wisley is meant to help reshape those behaviors,” she said.  

Wisely did not win a Grow-NY prize, but McCray said she is grateful for the connections she has made at the conference.