{"id":210799,"date":"2025-01-08T17:03:25","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T17:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/08\/belgiums-food-agency-advises-against-eating-your-christmas-tree\/"},"modified":"2025-01-08T17:03:25","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T17:03:25","slug":"belgiums-food-agency-advises-against-eating-your-christmas-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/08\/belgiums-food-agency-advises-against-eating-your-christmas-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium\u2019s Food Agency Advises Against Eating Your Christmas Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/08\/world\/08belgium-trees\/08belgium-trees-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Belgium\u2019s Food Agency Advises Against Eating Your Christmas Tree\" title=\"Belgium\u2019s Food Agency Advises Against Eating Your Christmas Tree\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Go ahead and recycle your Christmas tree. But please, the Belgian authorities say, don\u2019t try to eat it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The country\u2019s federal food agency delivered that unusual warning this week<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>after a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/stad.gent\/nl\/groen-milieu\/nieuws-evenementen\/na-de-feestdagen-wat-met-de-restjes#scandinavirs-eten-kerstbomen\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">suggestion<\/a> from the climate-friendly city of Ghent. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If you\u2019re trying to cut down on holiday food waste, the city recently said on an environment page of its website, why not make a \u201cdelicious spruce needle butter\u201d with the leftover needles from your holiday tree?<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s a breeze,\u201d the city\u2019s post read. \u201cThat way your Christmas tree is not 100 percent waste.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The city acknowledged that there could be health dangers in the bristly boughs. Yew, an evergreen, can be poisonous. Trees treated with pesticides and fire retardants are also hazardous, it said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ghent credited Scandinavian cooks with the idea of picking the needles, boiling and drying them, and then turning them into flavored butter. \u201cIn Scandinavia,\u201d the city wrote, \u201cthey have been doing it for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That turned out to be not quite true \u2014 Scandinavian food historians said it was far from a widespread tradition. And Belgium\u2019s food agency quickly urged the public against such a gastronomic experiment. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cChristmas trees are not intended to end up in the food chain,\u201d H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Bonte, an agency spokeswoman, said in an email on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A consumer may not know if their tree had flame retardants, she said. Pesticides are a threat, with Christmas trees \u201coften treated intensively.\u201d A misidentification could be deadly, as eating yew \u201ccan have serious, even fatal, consequences,\u201d Ms. Bonte said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And even if parts of evergreens are sometimes used in cooking, she said, not all are edible: \u201cThere is a difference between using needles from pristine nature and needles from trees specifically grown for Christmas and to be decorated at home.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ghent later <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20250103233528\/https:\/\/stad.gent\/nl\/groen-milieu\/nieuws-evenementen\/na-de-feestdagen-wat-met-de-restjes\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">edited the post<\/a> on its website, adding information about pesticides and changing \u201cEat your Christmas tree\u201d to \u201cScandinavians eat Christmas trees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The assertion surprised some of those who know the region\u2019s food best. \u201cWe don\u2019t eat our own Christmas trees,\u201d said Bettina Buhl, a curator and<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>food historian at the Green Museum in Auning, Denmark.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI have a lot of old cookbooks published in Denmark,\u201d she added, chuckling, \u201cand I haven\u2019t seen this. It\u2019s quite a new one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a response to questions, Ghent\u2019s climate team<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>said that it had always urged caution about consuming evergreens and that the city was focused on green policies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe social media post about the culinary uses of Christmas tree needles fits within a broader context of reuse, recycling, and a circular economy,\u201d it said in an email on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ghent\u2019s suggestion is hardly the only creative approach to trying to recycle a holiday tree. Although the carcasses of many holiday evergreens are discarded with trash bags, others often find a useful, sustainable second life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cm2vry70e55o#:~:text=Noah's%20Ark%20Zoo%20Farm%20in,which%20enjoy%20foraging%20through%20them.\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Britain<\/a> and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/germany-berlin-zoo-christmas-trees-elephants-feeding-c360d6f10f837185fbb4dd0b36830732#:~:text=The%20zoo%20takes%20only%20fresh,contain%20chemicals%20or%20leftover%20decorations.&amp;text=%E2%80%9CThey%20don't%20just%20serve,the%20zoo's%20curator%20for%20mammals.\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Germany<\/a>, castaway trees have been used as toys for zoo animals. In New York City, they are turned into wood chips and mulch to nourish trees in parks. Gardeners around the world replant them. Birders use them for feeders. Crafters make sachets and coasters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But snacks do not appear to be common. And the Scandinavian connection is tenuous at best, food historians said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere is kind of this idea around the world that we in Scandinavia, we eat absolutely everything green,\u201d said Nina Bauer, a<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>Danish food historian. \u201cWe just go around in the forests and we eat everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yes, she said, many people do forage for ingredients. Some people may use evergreen materials to infuse spirits or smoke other ingredients. And high-end chefs at innovative restaurants like <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/01\/09\/dining\/noma-closing-rene-redzepi.html\" title=\"\">Noma<\/a>, where diners have also been served grilled reindeer heart on a bed of fresh pine, have <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/12\/25\/opinion\/25redzepi.html\" title=\"\">used <\/a>evergreen trees for ingredients.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Ms. Bauer had only heard of home cooks in Denmark eating their own holiday trees in dire times, like during World War II. Cookbooks from the time suggested that people sometimes used Christmas trees for tea during food shortages, she said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And she was unequivocal about the region\u2019s cuisine: \u201cIt\u2019s not a tradition to eat your Christmas tree in Scandinavia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Koba Ryckewaert<!-- --> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/08\/world\/europe\/belgium-christmas-tree-eating.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Go ahead and recycle your Christmas tree. But please, the Belgian authorities say, don\u2019t try to eat it. The country\u2019s federal food agency delivered that unusual warning this week after a suggestion from the climate-friendly city of Ghent. If you\u2019re trying to cut down on holiday food waste, the city recently said on an environment [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/08\/world\/08belgium-trees\/08belgium-trees-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2160,2539,27316,55436,7972,166363,6508,1720,166365,165181,8742,166362,166364],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210799"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210799"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210801,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210799\/revisions\/210801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}