Staff Report
Published Feb. 9, 2009

The monks at Mepkin Abbey have replaced their 40-year tradition of raising and selling eggs with a new crop: mushrooms.

Mepkin Abbey’s oyster mushrooms will be available for purchase this month at three Piggly Wiggly grocery stores. The mushrooms also will be served at several downtown restaurants.

The abbey in Moncks Corner announced in late 2007 it would phase out the sale of its eggs after a controversy incited by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The monks said they had treated their chickens properly but decided to cease the revenue-generating operation because the controversy was a distraction. At the time, the monks said they would look for another means to earn revenue.

A statement on the abbey’s Web site said the organic Mepkin Abbey mushrooms will be available Wednesday at select Piggly Wiggly stores.

Piggly Wiggly officials said the mushrooms will be sold at the Piggly Wiggly stores at 100 W. Main St. in Moncks Corner and 1981 Riviera Drive in Mount Pleasant and at Newton Farms on Johns Island.

The mushrooms might be sold at additional stores in the coming months as supplies allow, according to Piggly Wiggly. The mushrooms will be packaged in six-ounce containers featuring recipes from the monastery’s cook, Brother Joe.

“For over 40 years, the monks of Mepkin have striven to provide you with only the highest quality of local fresh eggs and are prepared to continue that same attentiveness to quality with Mepkin Abbey mushrooms,” a statement on the abbey’s Web site said.

The Web site said restaurants that will serve the mushrooms are Slightly North of Broad, High Cotton, McCrady’s, Cypress and Anson.

A news release from Piggly Wiggly said the monks chose to replace their eggs with mushrooms because the crop is environmentally friendly and healthy, two attributes that are in line with the order’s values.

A Mepkin Abbey spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment this morning.

“Our relationship with Mepkin Abbey has always been mutually rewarding,” David R. Schools, president and CEO of Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co., said in a statement. “We provided an outlet for the brothers of the monastery to retain their self-sufficiency while they provided Piggly Wiggly with local products that tasted great. We’re thrilled we can continue to grow that relationship.”