Strawberries haven’t lost their appeal for Orange consumers with many having thrown their support behind growers by continuing to purchase the embattled fruit.
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While Coles cleared its Orange store of strawberries this week, Anson Street Woolworths still had a handful of punnets still in its store.
Both IGA stores were continuing to sell the fruit, and Harris Farm had several dozen punnets stacked inside their doorway.
On Tuesday police revealed a needle was found in a strawberry purchased in Orange, but as the Central Western Daily hit the streets on Wednesday, those who love the fruit weren’t scared off.
Elizabeth McCulloch said she wasn’t worried about buying and eating strawberries in Orange.
“God no, cut it, just cut it up. Cut all your fruit up. If you pay attention, you can still enjoy it,” she said.
“I’m worried about the farmers with the country in so much drought, they don’t need another kick in the teeth to have to cope with again, these poor people are just losing so much.”
She said she “nearly cried” seeing videos on Facebook of farmers dumping truckloads of strawberries.
“I felt disgusted, why do it, there’s no purpose … I hope they find whoever and these people who are copycatting need to just stop.”
Several other shoppers agreed with Mrs McCulloch, some of whom said they purchased strawberries “every day” and would continue to do so.
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Some shoppers such as Jackie Jarrett weren’t game to buy strawberries in the current climate, and said she hadn’t seen any on offer in the supermarket.
“I probably wouldn’t, no, I’m a bit worried about needles,” she said.
Huntley Berry Farm marketing manager Gianni Belmonte encouraged people to continue buying strawberries.
“We’ve got to be a bit cautious and we’ve got to be sensible about it, check it before you put it in your mouth but let’s keep supporting our local food industry,” he said.
He said he supported harsh penalties for anyone caught tampering with food, backing Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s call for 15 years jail for offenders.
I’m worried about the farmers with the country in so much drought, they don’t need another kick in the teeth to have to cope with again.
- Elizabeth McCulloch
“We want to hit it on the head and look into it and if they get caught put them in jail,” he said.
“It’s not a joke.”
On Thursday, Woolworths took the extraordinary step of removing sewing needles from its shelves, while a 12-year-old girl from the Blue Mountains was found to have put a needle in strawberries earlier this week.
On Thursday, while announcing tougher penalties, Mr Morrison said those responsible for the incidents were “putting the livelihoods of hardworking Australians at risk and you are scaring children”.
“If you do that sort of thing in this country, we will come after you and we will throw the book at you.”