New Covent Garden’s tenants’ association is taking advice over an article in the Evening Standard, which dubbed traders in the market “cocaine sniffing barrow boys who cared less about veg than our nation’s children”.
The article, written by Claire Longrigg, was based on an interview with vegetable supplier and judge on BBC’s Master Chef, Gregg Wallace, who was sacked for stealing cheese when he worked in the Garden. Wallace was quoted as saying: “Covent Garden was full of men with clashing leisurewear and awful cocaine habits. Those guys don’t realise they are selling food. For them it’s just a commodity. I’ve seen grown men sneering at bunched carrots.” The market’s tenants, obviously displeased with the tenor of these comments in an influential local newspaper, will respond in due course.
Wallace was also said to be mounting a “vigorous campaign” for fresh food grown locally and in season, and also lays into restaurateurs for lacking support for homegrown produce. He accuses chefs of “only paying lip service to seasonality”. And the article attacks the middle classes for sucking locally grown food into farmers markets and a “preoccupation with organic produce”.
Wallace said: “The idea that an organic carrot will taste better than a non-organic carrot quite frankly is laughable. The thing that will affect flavour more than anything else is how fast you get it from the ground to your gob. I’ve got nothing against pesticides. If my beautiful Opal plum trees look like they’re going to get infested by pests, I’ll tell you right now, those f***ers are going to get sprayed.”
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