Community leader pleads with growers to donate rather than dump avocados

In the wake of a devastating photo of thousands of avocados being dumped at the Manjimup tip, a community group leader has pleaded to farmers to donate their unwanted produce. Manjimup’s Seventh Day Adventist Church pastor Ross Craig has operated the Manjimup Pantry, a fortnightly food bank, for the past two years, and said the image which emerged over the weekend was “tragic” and hoped growers would contact him if they need to offload surplus produce. “Three hundred avos we could take and get rid of really easy,” he said. “I do not know what farmer it was, I feel really sorry for them, I feel really bad for number one that they have had to do that. “I also feel really sorry that that picture surfaced because that is a real blight because the produce farmers that I have any dealings with I have found to be great people that have loved to help.” The Manjimup pastor said he doubted this would be the last time a photo of dumped avocados would emerge during this picking season and he was willing to help where he could to offload them to bigger food providers. Mr Craig said in the time he had volunteered with the pantry he had developed contacts with organisations like Foodbank and SecondBite which could also help struggling farmers make sure their produce was consumed. “Give me a call and let me see what I can do to help,” he said. It is three weeks into the avocado picking season and the South West WA crop is expected to be the biggest across the country.