One of the fathers of the Pop-Tart, a staple from my childhood, has gone west.

William Post, who died Saturday at 96 in Grand Rapids, Mich., led the bakery plant that developed the first Pop-Tarts for Kellogg’s in 1964, according to his son, Dan.

Post was a hands-on sort who used his kids to test-drive the early prototypes — some good, some not so good — and once he got them dialed in, well, it was off to the races. Today, for good or ill, sales are in the billions.

One wonders what Post might have done if some Suit brought him the idea for “hybrid rice” — traditional rice grains slathered in fish gelatin, seeded with skeletal beef muscle and fat stem cells, and then grown in a lab.

Professor Jinkee Hong, who actually brought this Frankenrice to life at Yonsei University in South Korea, was hoping to develop a protein source more affordable than traditional beef, with a smaller carbon hoofprint.

After cooking and tasting his creation the professor said it “retains its traditional appearance but carries a unique blend of aromas, including a slight nuttiness and umami which are characteristic of meat.”

“While it does not exactly replicate the taste of beef, it offers a pleasant and novel flavor experience,” he added. “We tried it with various accompaniments and it pairs well with a range of dishes.”

Hm. Maybe so. I suspect it might have been one of those tough sells around the Post family table. But as a perpetually famished skinny-ass kid who inhaled everything from Tang to Space Food Sticks to Hamburger Helper to sammiches of Wonder Bread, pasteurized/processed “cheese food” and Oscar Meyer braunschweiger (in a tube!), I might have given it a go.

Hold the Beef-Rice Pop-Tarts, though. Ain’t enough Taster’s Choice in the world.