Like most things, the U.S. is also eating more mushrooms. U.S. per capita consumption of mushrooms has quadrupled since 1965 while per capita seafood consumption has increased from around 11 lbs per capita in 1965 to 16.5 lbs per capita last year. While the majority of seafood consumed in the U.S. is done in restaurants, most mushrooms are consumed at home.
In the U.S., we import more than half our mushrooms, mostly from China. But we import 83% of all seafood. As of 2004, the majority of seafood imports also come from China.
But like fish, a lot of mushrooms sold today are farmed, not wild. In 2000, there were 262 mushroom farms in the U.S. But when I tried to uncover the number of fish farms, I came up empty (in industry terms, a 'water haul').
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It's wild mushroom season here in France. I've eaten so many I'm probably turning into a fungus myself... ;-)
I have never heard about any ecological problems associated with mushroom farming. Do you know of any?
No ecological problems as far as I know for mushroom farming (there is probably some of the inevitable consequences of farming: habitat loss, a little erosion, maybe too many nitrates). Still, I prefer wild mushrooms if for no other reason than of preserving a little 'gathering' in my diet.