Mumbology

Image by: Inhabitat.com

Probably the last thing that comes to my mind when I think of new ways to create car parts would be to take the skins from tomatoes.  That’s what Ford is going to start experimenting with in a new partnership with Heinz.  I don’t know about anyone else but when I first heard about this idea, all I could think about was how amazing it would be to have the interior of your car made out of tomatoes so that if you ever got hungry you could just lean over and take a bite out of your dashboard.  Then I started thinking about how long I’ve had my current car and how it probably wouldn’t taste very good after sitting around for about 14 years.

According to Ford, they are only going to use the skins of the tomato to create small things in the car like coin holders or wire brackets.  Not quite the giant tomato car that I was hoping for but I’ll take what I can get.  Heinz now also gets a new way to use the skins from the two million tonnes of tomatoes it uses every year.  I know what you’re thinking, “But Mumbo, what about the smell?” and Ford has that covered as well.  They have their crack team of smell police to make sure that any tomato parts don’t stink up the place.

Can I get a little automobile with my food:

Apparently this isn’t the first time the Ford has used food to create parts of their cars.  For a little while now they have been experimenting with using rice hulls and coconuts in some of their trucks.  Some of the resins found in leaves from plants have also been used as a replacement for the patrollium based resins that are found throughout cars.

Thankfully they are passing the savings onto us by giving out thousands of dollars with every car they sell.  It will be difficult to use the money of course, since it is shredded.  But at least if you drive a Ford, you can tell all your friends about the giant pile of cash you have been sitting on.