I used to enjoy being able to buy strawberries in the supermarket in winter. But that was before I saw first-hand where most of the UK’s imported berries come from. The working conditions of migrant farm workers in southern Spain were something I never thought I would see in a European country. While others flounder, the Spanish economy is booming, in large part thanks to unusually high migration levels – but too many of the people propping it up are being treated disgracefully.
At the end of Huelva’s berry-growing season in April, I sat having lunch at a roadside restaurant in town, as an endless stream of trailers with fruit logos on the side thundered past. At peak times, 2,000 of these lorries leave Huelva every day, laden with berries destined for the European market. More than 60% of the strawberries British people eat in winter were grown in the polytunnels in Huelva.
The…
