The cargo company should be prosecuted for littering. Unless they can convince some benevolent locals to go help them clean up the spill.

this reminds me of the famous quote in the grapes of wrath

The works of the roots of the vines, of the trees, must be destroyed to keep up the price, and this is the saddest, bitterest thing of all. Carloads of oranges dumped on the ground. The people came for miles to take the fruit, but this could not be. How would they buy oranges at twenty cents a dozen if they could drive out and pick them up? And men with hoses squirt kerosene on the oranges, and they are angry at the crime, angry at the people who have come to take the fruit. A million people hungry, needing the fruit- and kerosene sprayed over the golden mountains. And the smell of rot fills the country. Burn coffee for fuel in the ships. Burn corn to keep warm, it makes a hot fire. Dump potatoes in the rivers and place guards along the banks to keep the hungry people from fishing them out. Slaughter the pigs and bury them, and let the putrescence drip down into the earth.

There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our success. The fertile earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy trunks, and the ripe fruit. And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificate- died of malnutrition- because the food must rot, must be forced to rot. The people come with nets to fish for potatoes in the river, and the guards hold them back; they come in rattling cars to get the dumped oranges, but the kerosene is sprayed. And they stand still and watch the potatoes float by, listen to the screaming pigs being killed in a ditch and covered with quick-lime, watch the mountains of oranges slop down to a putrefying ooze; and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.

Their source for it potentially being illegal comes from the daily heil so I would ignore it

"The guards were on the river bank to make sure the poor didn't take the fruit from the river, when that was too expensive it was collected in a pile and doused in kerosene. The hogs were burned as well all for the sake of profit" -grapes of wrath

I honestly think about it to this day. We didn't give milk to the homeless during covid. Farmers dumped it all for profit. We don't grow food to feed We gro food to make profit.

I don't know anything about British courts, but I doubt that any court is going to find anybody guilty of any major crime for collecting bananas washing up on the beach, for which the corporation that lost them got an insurance settlement to cover the loss. That's salvage, and salvage rights are long established.

british government more protective of bananas arriving on shore than they are refugees

Inb4 this is some archaic law that says all booties washed ashore belong to the monarch or something

Prosecuted for what? Enjoying a meal? A succulent, banana meal?

Eating beach bananas sounds like a great way to get some kind of weird illness. It's not like there's a nearby banana tree that they could have come from. But maybe I'm just too accustomed to grocery stores

The works of the roots of the vines, of the trees, must be destroyed to keep up the price, and this is the saddest, bitterest thing of all. Carloads of oranges dumped on the ground. The people came for miles to take the fruit, but this could not be. How would they buy oranges at twenty cents a dozen if they could drive out and pick them up? And men with hoses squirt kerosene on the oranges, and they are angry at the crime, angry at the people who have come to take the fruit. A million people hungry, needing the fruit- and kerosene sprayed over the golden mountains. And the smell of rot fills the country. Burn coffee for fuel in the ships. Burn corn to keep warm, it makes a hot fire. Dump potatoes in the rivers and place guards along the banks to keep the hungry people from fishing them out. Slaughter the pigs and bury them, and let the putrescence drip down into the earth.

There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our success. The fertile earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy trunks, and the ripe fruit. And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificate- died of malnutrition- because the food must rot, must be forced to rot. The people come with nets to fish for potatoes in the river, and the guards hold them back; they come in rattling cars to get the dumped oranges, but the kerosene is sprayed. And they stand still and watch the potatoes float by, listen to the screaming pigs being killed in a ditch and covered with quick-lime, watch the mountains of oranges slop down to a putrefying ooze; and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.

So the rumors are true, good food is indeed illegal in the UK.

Police, customs authorities, and the Receiver of Wrecks have warned beachcombers not to eat the bananas or to take them home.

This is the only mention in the linked article.

Got a loicense for that banana, mate?

In their defense, the warning could just be a CYA thing if someone eats one, gets sick and wants to sue for food poisoning.

Fuck the bananas

I want the Cocaine washing up on the shores

Highly doubt you’ll be prosecuted or even arrested. I could walk into a grocery store and grab a bunch of bananas and walk out right now and nobody would care, they just be like “that was weird”

But...

The Charter of the Forest declared that people are free to sustain themselves from the land.

As far as I know and remember, in Germany the "Finders Keepers" rule fully aplies on the beach. So if you find something (you are allowed to own) wached up on the beach, you can keep it. And the owner cant do anything about it. A couple of years ago, someone found a container with a motorcycle - and was allowed to own it.

...

Looked it up: They changed it in 1990 - sad :<

Nah, they were dumb enough to lose them, those bananas are fair game.

First. As mentioned by MonkderVierte, not fine but a warning.

Second. I'd really think thrice to pick up washed on the shore bananas, or just about anything edible. Basic hygiene to me. Many would disagree with me and say that one can rinse it off. But I don't know, man. Guess I am a germophobe.

Guess UK government is just trying to protect people from possible health risks. Cause, let's fucking face it. Tons of people have issues with hygiene. You can't expect everyone to at the very fucking least rinse these bananas, let alone rinse them well. Also, can you imagine any world government to proudly tell people "There's bunch of bananas washed up on the shore. Go pick'em up! Free potassium snack!" ?

Sad to see this many of fruit being wasted.

You need to leave alone the earthly process of food falling off container ships. It's nature's way.

Dailymail is not a reputable source.

This reminds me of when a large whiskey distillery broke in 19th century Ireland and many people died. Not from large quantities of alcohol sweeping people away (something like that happened in London in the early 19th century) but from passerby drinking so much of the stuff they died of alcohol poisoning.

Most Irish way to die ever!

The UK needs to cut some bureaucrat middle management and allocate the funds to the social programs they’ve austeritied into symbolic existence.