{"id":257328,"date":"2026-04-19T22:59:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T22:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/257328\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T22:59:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T22:59:23","slug":"texas-mushroom-conference-draws-hundreds-to-austin-as-interest-grows-in-fungis-potential-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/257328\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Mushroom Conference draws hundreds to Austin as interest grows in fungi\u2019s potential"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Texas Mushroom Conference wrapped up another year in Austin, drawing hundreds of attendees to the University of Texas campus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Now in its fourth year, the event brought together vendors, researchers and enthusiasts from all across the United States and Mexico. Organizers say interest in mushrooms continues to grow\u2014spanning industries from food to environmental restoration, and increasingly, mental health research.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cSo it could be food, psychedelic research, environmental restoration\u2014fungi really play a key role and a growing role in these different industries and spaces,\u201d said Maximilian Esparza, co-founder of the Texas Mushroom Conference. \u201cI think that\u2019s a really surprising thing for a lot of newcomers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">That growing interest comes as psychedelics\u2014particularly a compound known as psilocybin that&#8217;s produced by certain fungi\u2014gain more attention for their potential therapeutic uses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">On Saturday, President Donald Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/executive-order-psychedelic-therapy-offers-022355403.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:signed an executive order to accelerate research into psychedelics;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;signed an executive order to accelerate research into psychedelics&quot;}\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">signed an executive order to accelerate research into psychedelics<\/a> \u2013 including psilocybin \u2013 to be used to treat PTSD, severe depression and other mental health ailments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Esparza says public support for psychedelic research is expanding, alongside legislative efforts across the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cIt\u2019s really cool to see the general public start to support this psychedelic research through legislation, through bills, through laws, through regulation,\u201d Esparza said. \u201cIt helps this movement grow so we can learn more about what happens when people take psychedelics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Supporters hope that research could eventually lead to new treatments for mental health conditions in the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cJust better understanding, better transparency on what goes on when we consume these substances\u2014how can they help us, and how can we minimize risk?\u201d Esparza said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we have research going on for medicinal use.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Organizers are also watching developments in neighboring states. New Mexico is expected to roll out a medical mushroom program in 2027, something Esparza said could provide insight into how similar efforts could take shape elsewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Texas Mushroom Conference wrapped up another year in Austin, drawing hundreds of attendees to the University of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,96734,96732,96733,96735,64972,95492,4100],"class_list":["post-257328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-environmental-restoration","tag-maximilian-esparza","tag-psychedelic-research","tag-psychedelics","tag-researchers","tag-texas-mushroom-conference","tag-university-of-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}