Fungi are genetically much closer to humans and other animals than they are to plants, completely debunking the culinary assumption that mushrooms are just weird vegetables.

A closer look

Fungi are genetically much closer to humans and other animals than they are to plants, completely debunking the culinary assumption that mushrooms are just weird vegetables. unlike plants that use photosynthesis to make their own food, fungi secrete digestive enzymes into their environment to dissolve organic matter and then absorb the nutrients, effectively digesting their food externally. this means the portobello mushroom on your vegan burger shares more evolutionary history with you than it does with the lettuce sitting right next to it. it is a delightfully unsettling reality that every time you forage for truffles or eat a slice of mushroom pizza, you are basically consuming a distant, stationary cousin that eats by sweating stomach acid onto its surroundings until things turn to mush