Well, vomiting isn't very nice either. And some (many?) folks aren't crazy about mushrooms to start with. They may make apologies of the "I wouldn't know how to pick them safely" sort to avoid having to go mushrooming...
Thats undeniably true, vomiting isn't something anyone wants to do. However you're VERY unlikely to pick anything except what you're looking for if you stick to the 'biggies' of the found mushroom world as the grandparent comment covers--chicken of the wood, hen of the wood, morels, etc. They're quite distinctive and not easily confused with other things. The LBMs are a whole different kettle of fish--you're definitely into 'hard mode' when you try to differentiate those. But until you're an expert there's really no reason you'd even be looking for mushrooms in that category.
Hm. Morels around here come in 4 colors, and some of those can resemble other toxic mushrooms that also grow around here.
It can seem 'easy' to distinguish when familiar. But if you're coming at it fresh it's quite daunting. And to make your friends sick is a significant faux pas.
Anyway that leaves the "I don't want to do this, and I want a 'good reason' and the death card is a good reason" cause of reluctance. It may be more common that we think.
Yeah but how hard is it to get a guidebook and figure out if Morels are a safe pick in your area. If you already know morels have look a likes where you are, then don't pick them unless you have put in the time on your own research and feel you know how to make that particular ID.
Especially after I've picked something, it is really easy to move backwards and say "is there uncertainty with what this could be?".
In years of eating foraged mushrooms, I have never gotten so much as a stomach ache.
If you are making educated identifications (which is really easy to do with the materials available in this age) you shouldn't ever be vomiting when eating mushrooms.
A very small percentage of people cannot handle most of the mushrooms that other people can and will vomit but this is true of many other food categories and is not unique to mushrooms.
