New Mexico landscaper develops meat bearing fruit tree!
Author: Victor Rodriguez; Published: Apr 1, 2011; Category: New Mexico Landscaping; Tags: April Fools Day; 8 Comments
Albuquerque, NM – Here’s some good news that vegetarians can really sink their teeth into: Hilltop researchers have developed a genetically engineered fruit tree that bears real meat!
Developed by Hilltop landscaping scientists in Albuquerque using gene-splicing technology, fruit from the new Meat Trees closely resembles an ordinary tomato. But when you slice the large fruit open, inside is fresh beef.
“Our trees may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but it’s really a simple, down-to-earth idea whose time has come,” declares Fred Roybal, Director of Agricultural Bioengineering Research for the Hilltop Landscape Architects and Contractors, which created the delicious trees.
It has taken 12 years to develop the trees. “We take the genes from cattle that produce key proteins and splice them into the reproductive cells of Maple trees and tomatoes,” says Dr. Mary Lebus, Hilltop’s lead geneticist in charge of Genetically Modified Organisms. “When the seeds mature into trees, instead of producing ordinary tomatoes, the pulp contains meat. You get the flavor, texture—even the smell.”
“The best thing about the tree is that you can tap it like a sugar maple. The sap from the tree produces buckets of brown gravy that is to die for,” says Marketing Director Victor Rodriguez, who should definitely lay off the gravy.
Those who’ve sampled the fruit agree that it’s the best meat that they have ever eaten.
“I was a bit skeptical at first when I sank my teeth into a hamburger after they told me it grew on a tree,” says carnivore Thomas Franich, who participated in a consumer taste-test. “But it was juicy and delicious—nothing leafy about it at all.”
Beef grown on trees needs only sun, water and fertilizer and thus is more cost-effective than raising livestock,” Dr. Roybal also points out. “And trees don’t contribute to global warming like cattle do because they do not produce methane gas.” Meat tree products could be on the market in New Mexico by year’s end and, pending USDA approval, on dinner plates in the U.S. by 2012.
Some fanatical vegetarians insist they could never eat meat—even if it grew on a tree and no animals had to be killed. Others love the idea. “My mouth is watering already,” says Nick Carpenter, a committed vegetarian of 20 years.
Hilltop’s efforts to make other kinds of Meat trees so far have produced mixed results. The pork tree, for example, smelled like bacon but tasted like chicken.
8 Responses to “New Mexico landscaper develops meat bearing fruit tree!”
Leave a Comment
Get up to $500 Rebate on Tree Service supervised by an ISA-Certified Arborist
NOW is the time to prune your shade trees. Mention this Internet Tree Service Special and get up to $500 rebate for tree trimming. Call Us to Find Out How
Leave it to the creative and dedicated R&D staff at Hilltop, one can only hope this is just the start and we anticipate a white meat tree in the future as well?
mm-mm-mmm, that’ll go good with the cow that gives cold beer instead of milk.
How many calories are in a serving?
It may help your cause if those comments weren’t from the future. =]
nevermind just looks like the time is off
Where can I order seeds for this “meat”tree, it would be the perfect addition to my organic vegetable garden. But does it Moooo.. in the night I don’t want any tree that will disturb my sleep! Love the plant resource guide…could be more extensive though. Thanks for the humor!
Ha, this was great! Gravy…
This is real. Only that it is a grapefruit instead of tomatoes, and Manchester instead of NM.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/915075/posts