Is it stealing?

[Nc830]

My friend posted a story on Instagram of her kids age 4 and 6 in a PYO strawberry field and they were eating the strawberries and covered in strawberry mess all over their clothes.

another incident where I was looking through reviews on my local farm shop and somebody had wrote a 1* review because the farm worker had told them off for eating the strawberries as picking. Farm shop responded saying they had been caught carrying a pot of sugar and going round eating them.

is it wrong this annoys me? Yes I have no life but that’s not the point. I wouldn’t dare eat them,
firstly because they need washing
and secondly because it’s technically stealing as you only buy the ones in your punnet when they’re weighed at the end. To carry round a pot of sugar is taking the p*ss really. Is it honestly widely acceptable? Farm shops aren’t charities

YABU - it’s fine to do
YANBU - it’s stealing

I said yanbu because being covered in strawberry juice is taking the piss, as is anticipating you'll eat enough that you need sugar. I would assume they price in your sneaking a few, but not loads.

Haha @ShirleyPhallus they buy everything they lick

Exactly this! Never get why people put strawbs in sugar! I know iv missed the purpose of the post lol

As a child we would go to pick your own places that specifically allowed you to eat (and it was factored in). Around me all the pyo places forbid eating, so I haven't bothered taking the kids, may as well just pay less and get them picked for me at the supermarket!

Our local one has an honesty box for that. When the children were small I always paid for an extra lb as ds in particular thought it was one for the basket and one for him at best. Thankfully he wasn't a quick picker.

The honesty box goes to buy tools in the Africa I think so a good cause anyway.

Once they were old enough to understand we had the farm's rule of trying one each.
I still put money in the honesty box though.

I thought the whole point of PYI was the fact that you could eat the fruit as you went along. Where’s the fun in it if not? Bringing along a pot of sugar is a bit much though, especially if there’s no cream to balance it out.

I agree, OP, eating the odd few is fine but gorging yourself and letting your kids gorge themselves and then paying for just one punnet (albeit at an inflated price) seems very tight.

Why “technically”? You pick and eat fruit and don’t pay for it, that’s plain stealing.

Here’s what our local PYO says:

Do not eat our produce before paying at the exit tills. PYO farms rely on trust, eating fruit in the fields before paying for it is theft and compromises our ability to keep the farm open. We rely on the sale of our crops for our livelihood.

Grinning away at stealing. Not cute.

It depends. We have a local PYO and you are encouraged to pick and eat- it’s expensive per punnet though. Clearly it depends where you go. If they ask you not to then it’s stealing.

I think the farm can absorb that…

You have no idea how much money and time and effort it takes to farm — anything.

But you think everyone is entitled to eat whatever they like and only pay for whatever they present at the end? Ok. You be the farmer and we’ll all come to yours & we’ll see how long you’re in business, or how happy you are at the end of the day.

Oh, lighten up @phishy.

I didn't realise I had to sit and spell it out to you, but like lots of PP's have said, many PYO farms actively encourage you to try some of the fruit you're picking before you buy it.

There's a reason they charge silly amounts for you going in and picking your own fruit!

I checked with our local PYO farm before taking the DCs (including whether they wanted to weigh DS) and they were adamant that they'd already factored sampling into the cost and you paid a deposit for the basket before going out to the field which covered the cost of the samples.

Our local PYO didn’t used to mind people tasting the odd sample on the way round. But a few years ago discovered people were bringing scones and cream and picnics and having entire meals on the PYO fields! So now they charge you to access the fields with a further charge for fruit you bring home.

Annoying to those of us who actually just wanted to pick large quantities of fruit for jam etc. But they couldn’t afford to subsidise people in that way any more.

Ours charges entrance. I think it's £5 per adult not sure about kids. They deduct it from what you spend on picked fruit but I wouldn't want that many strawberries anyway as I don't make jam.

Eating a few on the way round is expected taking sugar with you to eat them is entitled.

Pot of sugar is bonkers. Pot of cream, surely.

It's like going round a supermarket and eating a few of the groceries as you go round before checkout. Of course it's stealing.

It depends - if you pay a set price it's fine. If you pay for the weight of the punnets it's not.

I’d focus more on occupying youtself with other stuff.

thr sugar clearly not ok, little kids eating a few on their way round, totally fine it’s part of the joy of it for kids.

Different places have different rules. The one we go to says it's fine. But they are fairly expensive so I guess it's built into the price. As long as you follow the rules where you are, there's no issue...