2007-05-29
National Post
National Post
A13
One of the most enduring symbols of the British summer -- strawberries and cream at Wimbledon's tennis tournament -- is threatened by a shortage of foreign fruit pickers. Migrant workers, who usually form the bulk of the labour force picking fruit, are now less keen to come and work, and horticulture is suffering. The National Farmers Union says there is a real danger summer crops will be left unharvested because migrant workers are going elsewhere. "There is no getting around the fact that manual harvesting is very physically demanding. You are out in the fields, bending down, and it might be raining or it might be really hot," said a spokeswoman for one farm. "And the fact is that strawberries have to be picked by hand, there is no machine that can do it."
Agriculture and horticulture workers
Reyno Unido
Ingles