They’re Eating the Trees! WARNING: Don’t Eat Your Christmas Tree

A news report was trending last year warning Belgians NOT to eat their Christmas trees!

If you missed it, officials in the city of Ghent, Belgium, where "Ghenters" or "Ghenterians" or "Ghentenarians" or whatever residents there are called should make a delicious Spruce Needle Butter with the leftover needles.  In the great Scandinavian tradition, they pointed out.

Sounds rather gourmet, doesn't it?

After all, Amazon sells a cookbook, "How To Eat Your Christmas Tree: Delicious Innovative Recipes for Cooking With Trees," available in hardcover!

The description touts ways to "explore the unsung edible heroes of our forests—the humble Christmas trees and their evergreen friends! As well as recipes for cooking with pine, fir and spruce. 

The cookbook also encourages readers to think about food waste, deforestation, the climate concerns, and alternative ways to celebrate nature, so be prepared for some politics with your culinary tips.

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Well, the Scandinavian food historians have never heard of this so-called "tradition," and it was considered tenuous at best.

A curator and food historian at the Green Museum in Denmark told the NY Times, “We don’t eat our own Christmas trees.”  Bettina Buhl said, “I have a lot of old cookbooks published in Denmark,” and noted, “I haven’t seen this.”

That was apparently enough for the Belgian government's public health agency to quickly put out the warning.

"PLEASE DON'T EAT YOUR CHRISTMAS TREES."

Trees can be sprayed with pesticides and flame-retardant chemicals!

Backtracking a bit, the folks in Ghent said their suggestion was really more about recycling than dining.

Disclaimer: The warning also applies to artificial trees.

Read More: When Do You Take Down Your Christmas Decorations?