Mycotrophe

Mycotrophe: Where Economics, Ecology, and Mushrooms Converge in Frelighsburg

Nicolas Van Caloen holds a degree in economics from UQAM and a certificate in ecology from the Universidad de Buenos Aires. That's an unusual combination for a mushroom farmer, but then Mycotrophe is an unusual mushroom farm. Founded in 2015 in the Brome-Missisquoi region of Quebec's Eastern Townships, the operation doesn't just grow mushrooms -- it runs five distinct business lines from installations built entirely in the forest.

The Belgian Who Came Back

Van Caloen's story has the arc of someone who always planned to return. Born in Belgium, he came to Canada at age five with his family, settling in what was then West Brome. He left at seventeen to study, travel, and work across Quebec and several other countries, always with the idea that he'd come back to the region in his thirties. When he did, he brought an economist's understanding of systems and an ecologist's appreciation for what fungi can actually do.

The farm sits on land belonging to the Collectif ESPACES in Frelighsburg, a community-oriented land trust that aligns with Van Caloen's approach to agriculture. Every installation is located in the forest itself, which is either a romantic idea or a practical one depending on how you look at it. For mushroom cultivation, forest settings offer natural humidity regulation and shade, both of which reduce energy costs compared to indoor growing facilities.

Five Lines of Business

Most mushroom farms in Canada do one thing: grow mushrooms and sell them. Mycotrophe operates across five components that reflect Van Caloen's broader vision for what a mycology business can be.

The first two are straightforward -- production of organic gourmet mushrooms and production of organic medicinal mushrooms. The gourmet side includes three varieties of shiitake, three types of oyster mushrooms, lion's mane, and maitake. The medicinal side taps into the growing market for functional mushrooms that has expanded significantly across North America over the past decade.

The third component is mycelia production, essentially the biological starter material that other growers need to begin their own cultivation. The fourth is a home inoculation service, helping property owners establish mushroom production on their own land. And the fifth is the one that separates Mycotrophe from virtually every other mushroom operation in the country: myco-remediation.

Cleaning Soil with Fungi

Myco-remediation uses mushroom mycelium to break down contaminants in soil. It's a real science with genuine applications, and Van Caloen has placed significant hope in its commercial potential. The concept works because certain fungal species produce enzymes that can decompose petroleum products, pesticides, and other pollutants that conventional remediation methods struggle to address without excavation.

For a farm that already produces mycelium at scale, adding remediation services is a logical extension. The same biological material that produces gourmet mushrooms can, in different applications, clean contaminated land. It's the kind of dual-use thinking that an economist-ecologist would naturally gravitate toward.

Recognition and Sustainability

The farm has earned recognition for its environmental approach, receiving $12,500 for an agricultural system that recycles CO2 and bioheat to feed its greenhouses. That kind of closed-loop thinking runs through everything Van Caloen has built. Waste from one process becomes input for another, and the forest setting means the operation exists within an ecosystem rather than apart from one.

Mycotrophe is still a small operation -- three Google reviews suggest it hasn't yet built the public profile of larger Quebec mushroom farms. But the model Van Caloen has constructed in Frelighsburg represents something more ambitious than volume production. It's an attempt to demonstrate that mushroom farming can be simultaneously profitable, ecologically regenerative, and socially useful.

You'll find Mycotrophe in Frelighsburg, Quebec, on the land of the Collectif ESPACES in the Brome-Missisquoi region.