With the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic beginning to bite hard for farmers, there has been a suggestions for the return of the Land Girls, a previous wartime campaign which saw those in non-essential work help to harvest the fruit, vegetables and crops from the fields to avoid waste.
Of course, this would not be defined by gender on this occasion, as the industry trade body British Summer Fruits seeks to offer employment for all those no unable to work or having lost their job due to the pandemic.
Nick Marston, Chairman of British Summer Fruits said: "As restrictions on our day-to-day lives increase and challenges build, British farming and the horticultural industry has an ever more important role in helping us maintain our health and nutritional wellbeing. The British berry industry has for many years relied on workers from mainland Europe to provide seasonal labour to pick our crops due to a severe lack of availability of local workers."
"In the next few days the berry industry will be mounting a large-scale recruitment campaign to encourage people who are in the UK and looking for work because of the current economic impact of the Coronavirus to come and work on our farms.
Marston also further highlighted the precautionary measures the are undertaking to ensure the welfare of their picking workforce during this period, including the use of smaller teams which are isolated from one another to protect against all workers falling ill. Additionally, he stated that the large scale of picking outdoors will make it harder to catch the virus from those who may currently be asymptomatic and contagious.