Since Janis has been working out of Bundaberg as a vegetable picker, Vilis and I have received various intriguing comments from him:
“I will never look at a zucchini the same again. We also did some eggplants, but those are way nicer to pick (They’re huge and purple, how could they not be fun to pick?)”
“I have never seen so many peppers [capsicums], hundreds of buckets of them, like an overflowing tide…”
“I’ve gotten to the point where my body doesn’t threaten to die on me everytime I pick, it just gets annoyingly sore, a definite step up. After my first two days I could barely walk.”
The horticultural industry in Queensland encompasses both fruit and vegetable growers and accounts for 16% of the state’s primary industries.1 That amount equals the contribution made by sugarcane and is larger than the contributions made by cotton, grain, sheep, dairy, and other miscellaneous producers, but is only half the contribution made by the beef industry.1 The Brisbane and Moreton areas in the southeastern corner of the state account for two to three times as much of the state’s produce than any of the other horticultural regions on the east coast.1 Those regions also possess the largest vegetable farms and, along with Far North Queensland, the largest fruit farms.1
East Bundy Backpackers in Bundaberg, Queensland (© Vilis Nams)
Queensland’s horticultural industry employs about 25,000 workers, more than in any other sector of the rural economy.1 Workers are typically local residents and travellers, some Australian and some foreign nationals who have flexible schedules and are seeeking seasonal employment1 (Example: Janis, whose room mates at East Bundy Backpackers are Dutch and Japanese). In Janis’s experience, the work hours vary and there’s no guarantee of picking every day. However, he’s gung-ho, pushing for long hours seven days a week in order to see his university tuition roll in. I wish him many eggplants.
