Pears Shaped Like Baby Buddhas

by Sara Bonisteel, Posted Sep 4th 2009 @ 11:30AM

Buddha pears. Photo: WENN.com

Shaping fruits and vegetables as they grow on the vine is nothing new. John Czeski, an Ohio farmer, was harvesting pumpkins with human faces in the 1930s. But these adorable baby Buddha pears take playing with food to a whole new level.

A Chinese farmer been tinkering with modified pears since 2003, and this year he's reportedly grown 10,000 edible Buddhas. But are they too cute to eat? Tell us what you think in the comments below!

Filed Under: Farming, On the Blogs, Edible Gifts, Ingredients
Tags: baby buddha, baby buddha pears, BabyBuddha, BabyBuddhaPears, china, edible gifts, fruit, john czeski, JohnCzeski, modified food, ModifiedFood, pumpkins with human faces, PumpkinsWithHumanFaces

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 2)

9-04-2009 @4:56PM Patrick Welch said... I'm confused on a lot of different levels; eating a pear is okay, but an Avatar shaped one? Am I crossing some Buddhist line?

It looks so juicy though and they're damn cute!
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9-06-2009 @9:17AM Sunny said... I LOVE the pears.
That is just too cute and clever.
But it does require patience.
Maybe that's why they choose Buddha.
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9-07-2009 @8:22AM Flora R Barr said... These are really pieces of art. How could anyone
eat them? It is almost a waste.
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9-07-2009 @9:44AM Don Roeder said... This begs the question, is it okay for a vegetarian to eat animal crackers?
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9-07-2009 @9:27AM hartie said... how original are these pears. i don't think i could eat it...it's too cute!!
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9-07-2009 @9:46AM April said... They are cute and would be great at parties. But to say the eating them would be a "waste" is just plain wrong. The "waste" would be in failing to eat perfectly good food.
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9-07-2009 @9:57AM Larry said... If you look at it as Ho Tai, the happy Budda then this becomes a Happy Meal, right?
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9-07-2009 @10:29AM kelley said... its just a pear people, get over it and YES, eat them.
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9-07-2009 @11:11AM rolandcarlboyce said... Some people just have too much time on their hands. Playing with fruit to make shapes with them? Oh boy, some body has to really get a life.
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9-07-2009 @11:28AM dsisterx316 said... I think Buddhism is all about becoming one with the outside world, becoming one with "God" is the goal right??.......what better way than to eat a buddha.....Someone needs to come up with the edible "Jesus" fruit....would work for me

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9-07-2009 @11:58AM Christy said... dsisterx316 said...Someone needs to come up with the edible "Jesus" fruit...

Ever hear of communion? Catholics believe the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ as it's blessed. Dane Cook calls the piece of bread a Jeez-it.
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9-07-2009 @12:04PM Hunter said... Personally, I think they look kind of creepy. I mean, just look into their eyes!
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9-07-2009 @12:22PM Grapes said... If someone were to make an edible Jesus, you can bet that someomne ele would scream,"blasphemy!"
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9-07-2009 @12:32PM jason said... i think it is really cool for them to share there way of life and to create a pear that looks like buddha i would eat it as well i would like to se when they will come out with the sheba fruit lol,and people fruit is fruit now if they were trying to market it as a holy fruit and would put you one step closer to god then ya i would then not buy it or eat it. but hey it will be ok.
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9-07-2009 @12:38PM clvngodess said... If you see the Buddha in the fruit bowl, eat it!
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9-07-2009 @12:38PM Patrick said... I think I'd rather eat it than watch it rot!
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9-07-2009 @1:05PM Rob said... Seems like a waste of time!!!!
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9-07-2009 @1:30PM JT said... Scroll back to the picture and look at all those little screws in the plastic mold someone has to tighten on every pear as it grows on the tree. Incredible! and they did 10,000? I wonder if China has child-labor laws (small people to climb trees); or maybe this Chinese farmer lives in America. Are the pears being sold anywhere?
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9-07-2009 @2:01PM KatyKatt said... Ummm . . . aren't Buddhists vegetarian? I would think that eating even a facsimile of a person would be repugnant. Eating Buddha seems sort of sacreligious, somehow, if not downright evil!
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9-07-2009 @3:12PM BeansonToast said... Actually, they'd be perfect for the fruit and flower offerings you see in Bali and other places in Asia, where they put out fresh offerings every day. He should sell his pears wherever they have this custom.
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