Joe Hartley
Well, they’re already costing me sleep and spring planting. I’m missing spring planting windows while I’m dealing with this nonsense. And I think that’s a window to the future.
David Reilly
Right. So it sounds like a reasonably serious impact if you’re losing sleep over it. What will it mean for you in terms of cost, in terms of red tape?
Joe Hartley
We don’t actually know. No, the regulations that have been released just say that they will apply to anyone selling any vegetable, no matter how small. So if you’re selling two bunches of silverbeet from your front gate, then you’re covered. You have to pay somewhere between 500 bucks and a grand in fees. And you’ll have to have a government licence to do that.
David Reilly
So your understanding is that backyard growers are caught up in this as well?
Joe Hartley
Absolutely. No doubt about that. Not if you’re eating it yourself, but if you sell any leaf vegetable. And it doesn’t matter if it’s for raw use or cooking. All gets the same rules. If you’re selling it, you’ll have to pay the fees and get a licence.
David Reilly
What of other… I mean, there’s been a lot of commentary online and we are keen to hear from the Minister responsible, Gavin Pearce, about exactly what it means. But you must understand that public health regulations are there for a reason, a very good reason. Unsafe food can be harmful to human health. I mean, there’s a strong argument here that this is a perfectly reasonable proposal.
Joe Hartley
Sure, at first glance, but not when you scratch the surface. So yes, it is true that people can get food poisoning from leaf vegetables. And that basically happens when there’s animal dung on the leaf vegetables. As far as I know, that is basically the only cause of food poisoning from leaf vegetables, in Australia at least. But it’s really, really, really rare. The bacteria that cause food poisoning are notifiable diseases. So any case that is serious enough to be diagnosed gets reported. And the health department knows about it. And there has not been a single reported case ever of food poisoning from leafy vegetables in Tasmania. So if they really care about public health, take that money they’re putting on regulation and pay your nurse’s wage.
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