Lord of the Lettuce targets food waste

HE calls himself Lord of the Lettuce, but really Garrick Cameron is just a naughty boy… with a social conscience, a loathing for food waste and a massive social media following.

Scroll through the 31year-old former diesel mechanic’s Facebook page, which has 118,000 followers (with even more on Snapchat, he says), and you might write him off as a coal-rolling redneck who gets off on black-clouding protesting greenies.

Watch closely, though, and what emerges along with expletive-laden language is a quick-thinking larrikin riled about industrial-scale food waste.

The recent recruit to the state’s Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party shared his concerns as MC at a free public forum on the Future of Food in Tasmania at the Black Buffalo Hotel in North Hobart at the weekend.

“The big eye-opener for me was when I started working on other people’s farms – just the amount of waste that occurs because of the militantly strict guidelines imposed by supermarkets,” Mr Cameron said.

“Lamb must be within such a tight weight range or it will be rejected and carrots have to grow straight and to a certain length.

“That blows my mind. Food is food to me. Why should it be doctored so much – that’s where the bulk of waste happens.”

The Copping father of three said Tasmania was ideally positioned to push for change – and he believes most of the community would get behind a campaign.

“We are sheltered from the mainland, which is awesome, and Tassie does march to the beat of its own drum. We are seen as a pure state, so why not keep building on that reputation by leading on reducing food waste?”

Commercial giants needed to relax visual fruit and veg guidelines as a fundamental first measure, he said, rather than pat themselves on the back over their occasional gimmicky oddbunch offerings.

“This is a pet peeve of mine,” he said.

The weekend forum was hosted by the state Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party.