No strawberries and cream for fruit pickers
Level 1 l Elementary
1 Pre-reading 1
Look at the title. What do you think the article is about?
a. The fact that strawberry pickers are not allowed to eat when working.
b. The fact that strawberry pickers are not paid a lot of money for the work they do.
Now read the first two paragraphs and see if you were right.
2 Pre-reading 2 Key Words
See if you can guess the meaning of these words from the text by matching them with the definitions.
to clap to cheer a yellow card a contract
leisure facilities a migrant to afford
1. is a piece of paper that two or more people sign to show that they agree to do
something (usually concerning work).
2. is to shout loudly to show that you are happy about something or somebody.
3. is someone who moves to another country to work or live.
4. is to hit your hands together, many times, to show that you think something is good.
5. is to have enough money to buy something.
6. (used in football) is a sign or warning that you have done something wrong.
7. are things you can use to help you enjoy your free time.
Now read the text quickly to check the words.
No strawberries and cream for fruit pickers
1
Val Salisbury lives in a country village in England. She loves the countryside, but just near her house there
is a big strawberry farm. So now the fields are covered with very big pieces of plastic, called polytunnels,
where the strawberries grow. And people have to work in the polytunnels, too. These workers come to
England from eastern Europe every summer, to pick the strawberries for British supermarkets.
2
Mrs Salisbury was very angry about all the plastic, and she was also angry that the workers were badly
paid. She wanted to show the farm company (S&A Davies, Europe s largest strawberry grower) how she
felt. So one day she walked into one of the polytunnels, and started pulling the strawberry plants out of the
ground. The east Europeans understood why she was angry, and they clapped and cheered.
3
 I felt so much better after my protest, said Mrs Salisbury last weekend.  We don t need these strawberries
and these polytunnels in Herefordshire .
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No strawberries and cream for fruit pickers
Level 1 l Elementary
4
Every year, at the beginning of summer, at least 5,000 people from eastern Europe arrive in south-west
England to pick fruit. This year, two villages, with more than 1,700 people in each, have been built there.
Each one has about 400 caravans, football pitches, internet cafes and even saunas. Most local people
welcome the fruit-pickers, but some are afraid that the fruit company is making too much money out of them.
Last weekend, a reporter interviewed 50 people working in the tunnels, and many were as angry as Mrs
Salisbury. The workers who could speak English said that their conditions were terrible. They thought the
company was making too much money from their stay.
5
 In Lithuania I earn 200 pounds a month, said a policeman from Vilnius.  I thought I could earn more here.
It looks like I am not going to. It cost more than I thought to get here; it costs more to live.
6
 None of us like strawberry picking, said a Ukrainian student.  Today I have earned 23 pounds. But I must
pay 35 pounds a week to live in a box with three other people. Perhaps I earn 150 pounds in a week, but
when I have paid for food, accommodation, tax, everything, maybe I have 70 pounds for a six days. It s not
good .
7
 The money is bad, said a waiter from the Czech Republic.  We waited days to have work & It is like a
prison. I have been given a yellow card already. One more and I am sent home.
8
The contracts S&A Davies gives the east Europeans make life hard for the workers. They have to pay
Ł26.25 a week to live four or five in one room. They must pay Ł3 a week for toilets and waste collection,
Ł2.25 for electricity, and Ł2.75 for leisure facilities, including a TV set, football pitch and disco. It costs them
Ł30 to see a doctor or a translator.
9
The contracts say that the pickers can lose their jobs if they eat a single strawberry, stop work, or go to the
toilet at the side of the field, or smoke indoors. If they want to have a visitor, they must ask permission two
days in advance.  I have never been anywhere like this, said a Ukrainian housewife.
10
The company said they promised to pay pickers Ł5.05 an hour when there was work, and extra money if
they picked a lot of strawberries. But they said that they could not promise full-time work for everyone at the
start of the strawberry season.  When 3,500 people arrive, it s hard to give everyone work at the same time.
And when it was raining, two weeks ago, we only charged Ł10 for accommodation, said Graham Neal, a
manager with S&A Davies.
11
The strange but sad thing is that the east Europeans cannot even afford to buy the fruit they pick.  Yes, we
like strawberries but we cannot pay for them, said a Ukrainian who was buying cheap white bread and
margarine in the local supermarket.  The next time you eat one, just think of us in the tunnels.
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No strawberries and cream for fruit pickers
Level 1 l Elementary
3 Reading for Information
Match the numbers (they are all in paragraphs 4-8):
Ł35 Ł70 5,000 Ł150 Ł200 4
1. How many foreign workers come to the strawberry farms every year?
2. How much does the policeman earn at home?
3. How much does the student earn each week?
4. How much rent does she pay?
5. How many people share her room?
6. How much does it cost to visit the doctor?
4 Vocabulary 1 Collocation
Match these word pairs from the article:
1 white a cafe
2 full-time b village
3 football c Europe
4 country d work
5 internet e paid
6 strawberry f bread
7 eastern g Republic
8 badly h money
9 Czech i pitch
10 extra j farm
Now read quickly to check.
5 Vocabulary 2 Word building
Find words in the text that match the description on the left. (The first has been done for you.)
1 somebody who grows (fruit or vegetables) is called - a grower
2 somebody who manages (a company) is called -
3 somebody who picks (fruit or vegetables) is called -
4 somebody who works is called -
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No strawberries and cream for fruit pickers
Level 1 l Elementary
Now do the same with these words from the text. (The names for these people are not in the text):
5 Somebody who buys things is called - a buyer
6 Somebody who has a farm is called -
7 Somebody who is in prison is called -
8 Somebody who smokes is called -
9 Somebody who cleans is called -
10 Somebody who drinks is called -
6 Discussion
Do you think Mrs. Salisbury was right to pull up the strawberry plants? Why / why not?
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No strawberries and cream for fruit pickers
Level 1 l Elementary
Key
1. Pre-reading 1 5. Vocabulary 2 Word Building
The text is mainly about the fact that the workers are 1. (a grower)
badly paid, though it s also stated that they aren t 2. a manager
allowed to eat the strawberries (see paragraph 9). 3. a picker
4. a worker
5. (a buyer)
2. Pre-reading 2 Key Words
6. a farmer
1. a contract
7. a prisoner
2. to cheer
8. a smoker
3. a migrant
9. a cleaner
4. to clap
10.a drinker
5. to afford
6. a yellow card
7. leisure facilities
3. Reading for information
1. 5,000
2. Ł200
3. Ł150
4. Ł35 a week
5. 4
6. Ł30
(Ł is the symbol for British pounds  also, GBP.)
4. Vocabulary 1 Collocation
1 white bread
2 full-time work
3 football pitch
4 country village
5 internet caf�
6 strawberry farm
7 eastern Europe
8 badly paid
9 Czech Republic
10 extra money
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