COOKING DEMO

Melany Kahn is a second generation mushroom forager. At the age of four, she started hunting for mushrooms in Vermont when her family bought a farm in West Brattleboro in 1968. For the last 22 years she has taught children how to forage for wild mushrooms. Since September 2022, Melany has traveled to over 51 U.S. cities to share mushroom education with crowds of excited kiddos. She is on fire when she steps in front of the children. They read her energy and light up. Recently, Melany presented a talk to children at TEDxBoston on planetary stewardship, "You're never too young to learn or too old to start foraging". She became a Vermont volunteer Guardian Ad Litem (court appointed advocate for children), and then established her own 12- year practice as a family court mediator. She was a six-year Board Member at Hilltop Montessori School, Brattleboro, VT. She is a member of the Education Committee for the North American Mycological Association Board (NAMA), and a Board Member of the Monadnock Mushroomers Unlimited, her local NH mushroom club. She attended Wesleyan University, (BA, English/Creative Writing). She holds a Masters in Social Work from Boston College, and an MFA in Film from The Tisch School at NYU where she met her illustration collaborator, Ellen Korbonski. Melany lives in New Hampshire and Vermont with her husband and children, a dog, 3 cats and 17 chickens. She and her husband co-own The Porch Cafe in Brattleboro. You can find her leading mushroom walks or foraging at every opportunity. Mason Goes Mushrooming is her first book.