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Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nHave you ever tried a strawberry on your way around a pick-your-own farm?<\/p>\n It can be tempting to try before you buy – and some would argue that it’s all part of the experience.<\/p>\n But one strawberry farm made headlines this week when it issued a social media plea for visitors to stop eating the fruit in the field.<\/p>\n Vale Pick Your Own, in Bonvilston, Vale of Glamorgan, said it was equivalent to shoplifting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve noticed a concerning trend on social media of people eating our strawberries before paying,\u201d they said. \u201cUnfortunately, this is significantly impacting our small family business, especially during our busier time.\u201d<\/p>\n The farm said if customers were caught, they could be asked to leave.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve planted enough strawberries to ensure we can stay open six days a week, but unfortunately we are finding that our fruit is being eaten in the fields, we are running out and then we are having to close.\u201d<\/p>\n It may seem like an innocent act, but for pick-your-own businesses, it could be causing more harm than people realise.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is always a problem \u2013 particularly strawberries and raspberries,\u201d said Bryan Clatworthy from Berry Hill Farm, Newport.<\/p>\n Mr Clatworthy has not offered pick-your-own fruit at his farm for about six years, but he said he used to experience his fair share of greedy customers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThey\u2019re easy to eat \u2013 same with plums,” Mr Clatworthy said.<\/p>\n He said some people were “greedy”, adding: “They end up going out and they\u2019ll have a belly full of fruit and end up not paying a penny.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Clatworthy said it was something farmers had come to expect.<\/p>\n \u201cWe factored it into the price,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cI said to a little boy once, \u2018Oh, you\u2019ve eaten plenty of strawberries\u2019 and he said \u2018Not as many as my dad!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Over the border in Cheshire, Barabara Hughes from Magical Malpas PYO Farm said the bad weather this year has caused a shortfall in produce.<\/p>\n \u201cWe lost all our strawberry plants this year because of the weather,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n It means they have been unable to offer pick-your-own strawberries this year.<\/p>\n Even so, she\u2019s come to expect that people will help themselves to a strawberry or two.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s part of the deal. You\u2019ve just got to put up with it. There\u2019s nothing much you can do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could have huge evidence that would go in a court of law \u2013 their t-shirts would be bright red and their whole face, but you just have to say \u2018Oooh, you\u2019ve been eating them, I bet your tummy\u2019s full!\u2019 <\/p>\n “But it\u2019s something you can\u2019t stop to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The issue has caused a stir on social media.<\/p>\n “Thirty years ago that was a part of the experience, going to the fields picking your own with a bag of sugar and eating along the way,” said one user on Facebook.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s great to taste before you buy,” said another. “Let the kids and adults enjoy rather than wasting them.”<\/p>\n But some were more sympathetic.<\/p>\n One Facebook user asked: \u201cWould you do it in the supermarket?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/92c2\/live\/8e007c20-50d4-11ef-a15b-bb8a197fd388.jpg.webp\")
Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nIs it all part of the pick-your-own experience?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n