Poop Tomatoes: Disturbing Emergence Of Sewage Fruit Discovered Growing In England
Residents visiting Pegwell Bay in Kent were disturbed to find tomatoes growing from sewage.
In news no one wants, so-called ‘poop tomatoes’ are growing from the seeds in people’s excrement after an increasing amount of raw sewage muddied Kent‘s beaches.
We’re all for local produce, but we wouldn’t recommend using this garden variety in your spaghetti bolognese anytime soon.
Local resident, Alice Toney, 31, spoke to the Independent about the recent discovery, explaining that on a walk with her children she ‘was amazed to see tomatoes basically growing on the beach’.
Other residents have also shared their confusion at the fruit’s appearance on the coast.
Nik Mitchell, who runs the Facebook group Wildlife Conservation in Thanet, said:
In recent years I have found lots of the evidence of raw sewage going into our rivers and seas, normally things like floss harps, plasters, applicators and earbuds. But poop tomatoes is a new one to me.
Mitchell went on to explain how the fruit’s appearance signals a bigger environmental problem.
6 months agoHe continued:
When talking about the sewage spillages I like to point out to people that it’s not just our seas being polluted, it is our rivers too and it’s not just raw sewage it is heavily polluted road runoff too.
The problem Mitchell raises may, in part, be attributed to England’s sewer systems being unable to cope with heavy rainfall. When sewage works are overwhelmed, water firms release the excess water (and untreated sewage) into the country’s waterways.
Recently, the increasing amounts of sewage in England’s rivers and seas caught the attention of ministers.
With a majority of MPs voting to approve a government concession to cut the amount of raw sewage dumped into our waterways, MPs voted 283 to 163, meaning water companies will be tasked to ‘take all reasonable steps’ to prevent excessive sewage in waterways.
Hopefully next year’s harvest won’t be such a party pooper.
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Credits
The Independent and 3 othersThe Independent
‘Poop tomatoes’ found growing on shore of Kent coast where sewage pumped into sea
Daily Mail
The Rivers Trust
Evening Standard
Environment bill: MPs vote to cut dumping of raw sewage into waterways
