The contamination of strawberries with needles has caused some schools to discourage or even ban fruit in lunch boxes.
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But at Holy Trinity the students are popping strawberries in support of farmers who have been struck by the strawberry contamination crisis.
Gabe Adams, Holy Trinity School Canteen Manager, said her 50-cent strawberry pops were welcomed by students.
“Older kids have been more aware,” she said. “Even those who don’t often buy fruit are eating the strawberries. I was surprised at how aware they are that strawberries have been getting some bad press. One boy even asked me, ‘Is this helping the farmers?’ And I was pleased about this.”
The idea for the strawberry pops came when Ms Adams went to the supermarket and couldn’t find any strawberries to buy as they had all been removed from the shelves.
“The media is telling us to support farmers and go and buy strawberries, but I couldn’t even find them in the supermarket,” she said.
Her husband who works at Glen Innes, buys coffee at the Glen Innes Strawberry Farm on the New England Highway, and agreed to help out by purchasing 5 kilos worth of strawberries at a particularly good price.
“They were so affordable that I put them on paddle pop sticks and am selling them to kids at 50 cents,” she said, pleased that the strawberries sold out fast.
The kids not only got a delicious treat, they also became more aware of the concept of food terrorism and how they should not bow down to it.
“We shouldn’t stop buying things because of the actions of a few people ,” she said. “And we have to let farmers know that we support them.”