Now that Christmas is well and truly behind us and decorations are being stored away for another year, many people are still stuck with their Christmas tree. The local recycle park is always an option. There are composting opportunities and in the seaside resort of Oostduinkerke in West Flanders the new municipal council has reintroduced the controversial practice of a Christmas tree bonfire on the beach. In Ghent the city mums and dads encouraged their fellow citizens to eat their Christmas tree. Admittedly, the call was largely tongue in cheek – the city authorities wanted to get people to think about other uses for single-use articles people buy – but Belgium’s Federal Food Safety Agency, the FAVV, was not amused and has issued a warning. 'Don’t eat your Christmas tree!' they say.
The decision by Ghent’s city fathers to encourage the good folk of the East Flemish capital to eat their Christmas trees once the festive season is over may not have been their wisest idea. Daily De Standaard reports that Belgium’s Federal Food Safety Agency, the FAVV, is warning that such trees are often treated with pesticides that had better not end up in the food chain.
The city of Ghent launched its playful action earlier in the week. People are encouraged not to just throw away their Christmas trees year after year. The needles of a spruce or pine are edible and you can make butter or sauce with them, Ghent insisted. The main aim of the initiative was to reflect on possible other uses for single-use products you bring into your home.
The initiative went down the wrong way as they munched their breakfast at the Federal Food Safety Agency. Don't do it, the FAVV adamantly warned. ‘Christmas trees are not intended to enter the food chain,’ spokeswoman Hélène Bonte stressed.
The reason is simple: Christmas trees grown here are now often treated with plant protection products, i.e. pesticides. ‘And yes, of course Christmas tree growers do have to comply with legislation on products,’ Ms Bonte explains. ‘They do have to use pesticides appropriately.’
‘But it was never intended that these products would be eaten by humans. No maximum values for these protective products (i.e. pesticides) are stipulated. We don't carry out any checks either!’
'We are not in Scandinavia'
Abroad, including in Scandinavia, cooking using your spruce or pine is more common. ‘But in Scandinavia trees come from the wilds: that is, of course, something completely different from the trees grown here,’ Ms Bonte notes.
Importantly, some needles are simply not edible like those from the poisonous yew tree and from trees sprayed with artificial snow or fire-resistant sprays! So, think twice before you start cooking your spruce!