‘The strawberry crisis needed a calm and common sense approach’

I really feel that the strawberry crisis dominating news and media reporting in Australia has been damaging. When I think about the most recent images of mounds of beautiful strawberries being dumped, I feel the media has blown this issue way out of proportion. It’s a shocking waste of food and money.

I don’t understand why the media needs to whip everyone into a frenzy. Surely it would have been better to provide considered advice to consumers that they needed to cut their fruit before eating it. Despite needles being found in some punnets, I’ve not let it stop me from buying strawberries. I just cut the fruit, it’s really not that hard to do. The mentality of some people is hard to comprehend.

Watching the news, I was appalled to see a truck dumping strawberries onto what could only be described as a strawberry mountain. There was nothing to confirm that the fruit had been contaminated. However, some dimwit sticks a sewing needle into a strawberry and the media goes into a frenzy. In my opinion, all this sensationalism has done is bring out the nutters eager for their 15 minutes in the spotlight.

Strawberry growers are begging people to buy their berries, worried about the impact the news will have on the industry. While I don’t deny there needs to be consideration given to the safety of the public, if we aren’t going to eat strawberries could we not have thought of other ways to use them? They could have been used to make strawberry jam, strawberry sauce or even strawberry ice-cream, just to name a few of the endless possibilities.

The often-hysterical media could wipe out the entire strawberry industry. This tampering crisis needed a calm and common sense approach, which is why I continue to purchase strawberries when I go shopping and will continue to do so while they are still available. It takes a few moments to cut my strawberries up and check that they haven’t got anything nasty inside them. I enjoy my fruit far too much to allow someone who had nothing better to do than stick pins in it, to discourage me from eating it.

I only hope that our justice system follows through on all the claims from the authorities and government, that when the culprits are caught they will have the book thrown at them and will spend time in jail. There should be no claims of ‘mental health issues’, there should be no slap on the wrist and a good behaviour bond. These people are a disgrace.

Has the strawberry crisis stopped you from buying the fruit? Do you agree with this writer?