So many of us are helping stem the avalanche of strawberries being tossed & livelihoods lost by buying, chopping and eating these beautiful winter fruits in any way we can. In my case, the preference is definitely this Mama P cake! (Even as Newcastle is a long way to go to get it.) It's been a tough month for anything strawberry. If you are the rotter who spiked that first strawberry this month, know that you have not just broken the trust of 25 million of your fellow Australians, but you have stolen from thousands of Australian farmers and businesses - growers, transporters, warehouse owners, retailers.With copy cat spiking now spreading across Australia, what we do next is important as we do whatever is in our power to stop the spread of this needle's impact. We can all help. The simple decision to choose to eat strawberries and share on social media helps and supports the lives of thousands of people.
SHOP 🍓 and support your local strawberry grower by buying direct where farms sell, going to farmer's markets or checking places like facebook marketplace. You'll be surprised what is there!
SHARE posts from stories like these far and wide. Support strawberry and produce farmers by sharing on social media. Ask everyone you know to ask everyone they know to buy strawberries. If you are a food blogger, post beautiful strawberry food.If you are in body care, cosmetics or fashion, promote strawberry ingredients, images or conversations.
STOP 🛑 if you are doing this. You know who you are - the person who started the needle spiking, and all the copy cats. You are being a complete ass. Please look around you at your own family, friends and food growers. Your actions are destroying the lives of hundreds of people - families just like your own, who are now not able to afford their own food this year because you have created their financial ruin. If you were trying to make a point to supermarkets, know they will just put up the price of some other produce and keep rolling along, barely missing a beat. If you are just being an idiot, know that the family lives you are destroying could be your own. Food producers are decent people trying to care for their own, just like you.
According to police, the original punnets of strawberries were interfered with between the time they were packed and the time they were purchased from a farm in South-east Queensland.
Deal with copy cats so they don't spread the problem
If you know someone perpetrating this act, at the very least, please ask them to stop. Someone knows who they are. More usefully, report to police. You may not want the $100,000 but as people get caught, the copy catting will stop.
For peace of mind, purchasers of fresh strawberries have been advised to take the simple precaution of cutting the fruit in half before eating.
As with all farmers who produce food for our nation, strawberry growers strive to ensure the quality, security and freshness of their produce, but we all play a role in the safety of food as it is handled by so many others once it leaves the farm gate. While the police priority is to catch the perpetrators and diminish the risk of ‘copycat’ behaviour by reinforcing with those who may be thinking of causing harm that there are serious consequences and penalties, we have a broader issue. Incidents like these expose the extreme fragility of our shared food system and how our lives literally depend upon it. We are all responsible for protecting our food systems so please do whatever you can to support food producers & stop this current epidemic of stupid.