There must be quite a sense of satisfaction in the ranks of English soft-fruit growers this week, following the news that the Press Complaints Commission upheld the objections lodged through British Summer Fruits (BSF) concerning “gardening guru” Monty Don's claims about the frequency of chemical spraying on the British crop.
It is not often that an industry responds with such alacrity to slights of this kind. And even more rare that complaints of this kind are listened to and upheld. Trade organisations, in my opinion, are generally regarded by their members rather like the AA - there to be turned to in an emergency. BSF will have won itself a great deal of goodwill, apart from heartfelt congratulations.
From a wider perspective, the incident is a sharp reminder to the entire fruit and vegetable industry - particularly at time where the subjects of food and diet occupy a significant part of the daily mass media headlines - of the continuing need to keep a sharp eye open and at least have a contingency plan to deal with situations that arise all too often.
Glib terminology or downright factual inaccuracies abound from commentators who seldom come into contact with growers or wholesalers. This has always been a bane of the industry and has recently been in danger of spinning out of control.
Although the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Information Bureau is now long forgotten, despite launching the original Five-a-Day campaign over 20 years ago, it will be remembered by several of its supporters for the valuable role it played in keeping the record straight.
In my time as a voluntary director, the board - with the help of Jonathan Choat - managed to defused many a timebomb, for instance to protect the whole citrus industry when mercury was discovered in a batch of oranges.
Yellowing records will also show how bright young journalists were tamed in the nicest possible manner when they thought they had discovered that ethylene was used to ripen tomatoes, or that the French were callously out to break the English apple industry by flooding the market with Golden Delicious.
Without pointing the finger I wonder how many organisations representing British and/or imported products are equipped and poised nowadays to take up the cudgels, should the need arise?
Logically, the Fresh Produce Consortium should be the industry representative that takes on this mantle, and I hope was fully behind the BSF all the way through its recent skirmish. It would be interesting to know if the retailers too offered their support.
Strawberries, after all, are a major profit centre for everyone during the summer. To protect the future of the product and the industry from damaging stray words in the media is in everybody’s interests. And that involves more than just growers, who are seen inevitably as being biased, standing up to false pesticide claims.
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