Blog – Four Star Mushrooms

UPDATES

EXPLORE WHAT’S NEW

BLOGS

Discover some insights about our journey

28
Feb

Vegan BBQ Blue Oyster Nachos

February 28, 2024
A bit about Blue Oyster Mushrooms Blue Oyster Mushrooms have a firm and meaty texture, especially when cooked. This texture can make them a satisfying alternative in recipes that traditionally...

Vegan BBQ Blue Oyster Nachos

February 28, 2024
A bit about Blue Oyster Mushrooms Blue Oyster Mushrooms have a firm and meaty texture, especially when cooked. This texture can make them a satisfying alternative in recipes that traditionally...
04
Feb

Cooking with Four Star Mushrooms

February 4, 2024
How to Cook with Gourmet Mushrooms Four Star Mushrooms has a diversity of in-house homegrown gourmet mushrooms cultivating daily at the growth facility. The differing varieties of mushrooms allow professional...

Cooking with Four Star Mushrooms

February 4, 2024
How to Cook with Gourmet Mushrooms Four Star Mushrooms has a diversity of in-house homegrown gourmet mushrooms cultivating daily at the growth facility. The differing varieties of mushrooms allow professional...
04
Feb

Regenerative Food Systems Integrated with Four ...

February 4, 2024
These mushrooms are a game-changer! Freshness that elevates my dishes. Highly recommended for chefs seeking top-notch ingredients!

Regenerative Food Systems Integrated with Four ...

February 4, 2024
These mushrooms are a game-changer! Freshness that elevates my dishes. Highly recommended for chefs seeking top-notch ingredients!

1 3

EVENTS

Discover our upcoming events & gatherings

06 May

Chicago Water Week presented by Current

March 5, 2025
Take a Behind the Scenes Tour of Four Star Mushrooms to learn about water’s role in mushroom cultivation and climate mitigation efforts. Special Tour days & times for Chicago Water Week...

Chicago Water Week presented by Current

May 6, 2025, 7:00 pm
Take a Behind the Scenes Tour of Four Star Mushrooms to learn about water’s role in mushroom cultivation and climate mitigation efforts. Special Tour days & times for Chicago Water Week...
10
Feb

Need some space?

February 10, 2025
Need some space? Contact info@fourstarmushrooms.com on how to rent our unique event space. Community events, Art/Craft Fair, Farmer’s Market, Meetups, Music, Talks

Need some space?

February 10, 2025
Need some space? Contact info@fourstarmushrooms.com on how to rent our unique event space. Community events, Art/Craft Fair, Farmer’s Market, Meetups, Music, Talks
05 Mar

Soil Health Advocacy Day

February 10, 2025
Learn about soil health!

Soil Health Advocacy Day

Mar 5, 2025, 11:00 pm
Learn about soil health!

1 3

MEDIA

Our Podcast, Press, etc

The Food Guy: Four Star Mushrooms
(NBC CHICAGO)
Chicago Gen Z entrepreneurs cultivate urban mushroom farm with global sustainability vision
(FOX32 Chicago)
Lunchbreak: Mushroom Lettuce Wraps
(WGN Chicago)
Transforming Lab-Grown Mushrooms Into Orange Chicken?!
Chicago’s top fungi guy is out to save the world, one beautiful mushroom at a time.
(Chicago Tribune)
For Chicago Mushroom Producer, Fungi Have Untapped Human and Environmental Benefits (WTTW Chicago)
Michelin Star Chef Simon
Four Star Mushrooms featured on WGN with Chef Simon.
Star Chefs & Four Star Mushrooms
The Future is Fungi

1 8

Joe Weber

FOUNDER / PRESIDENT

I started Four Star Mushrooms because I believe that creating sustainable agriculture systems will be our key to solving climate change and the global loss of biodiversity. While studying biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign I became deeply curious about ecology and the degradation of our ecosystems. I began to understand that a lot of our environmental issues were rooted in the way we mass-produce food through industrial agriculture practices. Two realizations really changed the way I viewed things. 1: The average age of a supermarket apple is 14 months old, sitting in cold storage for the majority of this time. The antioxidant properties that apples are known for, polyphenols, begin to drop off after a few months in cold storage. 2: Monoculture agriculture, growing only one crop across hundreds or thousands of acres, is the largest cause of habitat loss and ecological degradation. Further, restoring degraded farmland to grasslands across the world has the potential to sequester 3 Gt of carbon per year, making it a viable solution to mitigate some impact of global climate change. My solution to these issues is to decentralize food production and utilize the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) industry in and around urban areas. In doing so we will create fresher, more nutritious, consistently higher yielding produce while decreasing our negative environmental footprint. I am pro-farmer and I appreciate their endless hard work. They are truly the backbone, not only of America, but of the world. Unfortunately, the average age of the typical US farmer is 58 and only going up. With fewer people entering the farming industry than the previous year, a new kind of farmer is necessary as we progress through the 21st century. This farmer is armed with knowledge of technology and data and how we can leverage these tools to increase our production while decreasing resource consumption. My vision for the future is one in which we intelligently plan and restore environments at the ecosystem level. The green revolution gave us the great corn and soy fields that we live with today and I am thankful it did. However, as we move forward we need an approach that will allow us to grow while maintaining ecological integrity and I wholeheartedly believe that agriculture produced in and around major metropolitan areas, cleanly and in many instances indoors, is a solution that will reap positive outcomes on the environment, local entrepreneurs, and the surrounding community.

Sean DiGioia

CO-FOUNDER

I combine my background in finance and economics with a passion for sustainable agriculture to spearhead operational excellence. I carved my path in the world of corporate banking, navigating the intricacies of finance and learning the fundamentals of a resilient business. While I gained an immense amount of knowledge and built relationships I will always cherish, a sense of incompleteness always gnawed at me. At the time, my childhood friend, Joe Weber, was starting to grow something that I had refused to eat my entire life - mushrooms. Since we were in kindergarten, Joe and I have always shared a love for being outside in nature and admiring the biodiversity it offers. As soon as I understood the role that fungi play within our ecosystems, it became apparent to me that mushrooms were a lot more than just something I refused to eat as a child - they represented a new beginning in my life, just as they do in nature. Stepping into the world of fungi opened my eyes to a previously unseen realm of potential. These incredibly stunning and multi-faceted organisms, nature's recyclers and culinary powerhouses, offered a pathway to a healthier planet and healthier people. Fungi's ability to regenerate our soil, while at the same time providing a protein-dense superfood with a myriad of health benefits ignited a fire and a sense of purpose within me. At Four Star, we are not simply cultivating mushrooms; we are cultivating a new paradigm for our food systems. I believe that delicious, nutritious food can be produced in harmony with nature, fostering biodiversity and enriching the earth. My journey from finance to fungi may seem surprising, but it is a testament to the transformative power of passion and purpose. With every mushroom harvested, with every relationship built, with every community enriched, Four Star brings us closer to a future where healthy, sustainable food nourishes both our bodies and our planet.