TESCO have been blasted for extending shrink-wrapped plastic – to one of the toughest vegetables on the planet.
Scottish crofter Sally Crowe was enraged to discover the supermarket had coated her “ridiculously tough” swede in protective plastic.
The vegetable is so dense it contributes to a significant percentage of annual kitchen accidents as knives slip and slice fingers rather than swede.
Sally, who farms in the Highland village of Keiss, near Caithness, was so cross at the unnecessary use of polluting plastic she took to Tesco’s Facebook page for an epic rant.
The 41-year-old wrote: “Dear Tesco’s, I need to talk to you about something. That something is neeps! Or swedes to some folk.”
“Neeps are tough, like really tough. Your average rhino is jealous of how tough a neep’s skin is. Lots of folk cut neeps with axes, cos of aforementioned tough skin.”
She continued: “Your average neep can last approximately 3.5 years in the vegetable rack.”
After spelling out the toughness of the swede, she reached her point, asking: “Why do you shrink wrap your neeps in plastic?
“Honestly, that wee, skinny bit of heat-shrunk plastic does nothing except add more plastic waste to our world.
“Neeps aren’t soft and squishy like tomatoes, they don’t come in bunches that need held together like onions. They’re tough, ridiculously so.
“They really don’t need, nor benefit from the bit of plastic around them. Please stop. It’ll save you money in the long run too.
“Plus one wee bit less plastic for your loyal customers to recycle. Honestly no plastic on your neeps is a win win situation for everyone really. Thanks for reading, I await your response.”
Reacting online, Jill Harmer wrote: “Have to pinch. This is brilliant and so right!!”
Steven Leith commented: “Sally, brilliant post. I do wonder what the neeps at Tesco will make of it!”
Nadine Paterson said: “Beautifully put, hope they listen.”
Sally added today: “It’s just stupidity. Things like strawberries need plastic but these don’t. You can put a sticker on the skin with a barcode if that’s the reason for the plastic.
“I wrote the post when I was bored waiting on the neeps to boil. All I have got back is a bland generic response about reducing plastic waste.”
Tesco declined to give an official comment but referred to a trial they have carried out in some stores where plastic wrapped fruit and veg was removed from its stores.
On the trial, Tesco’s Director of Quality Sarah Bradbury said: “We want to remove as much plastic as we can from our products, only using what is necessary to protect and preserve our food.
“Whatever happens, we’re going to keep reducing the amount of packaging we use and ensure everything on our shelves is fully recyclable.”
In a recent survey by Greenpeace, Tesco ranked fifth in a league table of supermarkets doing their bit to reduce plastic waste.
It says the supermarket had reduced 45% of its single-use plastic, 13% behind Iceland who ranked the best on 58%. Sainsbury’s ranked bottom of the table on 31%.
