Reigniting the Soul of Farming – Nikiko Masumoto

Publications & Reports

Media

10 Highlights from TEDxManhattan 2015

TEDxManhattan Heroes: Nikiko Masumoto

Publications

• Celebrate the Peach!, Diane Hatz, Guide to Good Food, Change Food, August 21, 2015

A blog post on National Peach Day and an update on Nikiko Masumoto and the Masumoto Family Farm.

• Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm , David Mas Masumoto, HarperOne, April 26, 1996

Written by Nikiko’s father, this memoir tells the story of this farmer’s passionate attempt to prevent his Sun Crest Peaches from becoming obsolete in a world that increasingly values commerciality over quality

• How Buying Smaller Fruit Could Save California’s Drought-Stricken Family Farms, Steve Holt, Civil Eats, June, 22, 2015  

An article on how the Masumoto Family Farm has dealt with the current weather conditions in California and their efforts in starting a #SmallFruitRevolution.

• The Small Fruit with a Big Flavour , Peter Day, BBC News, July, 18, 2015

An article on the history of the Masumoto Family Farm and how their peaches have changed over the years.

• Why Smaller Means Sweeter For This Summer’s Fruit , Russ Parsons, LA Times, July 2, 2015

An article on the growing trend of smaller fruit being grown due to weather conditions, and how small fruit does not necessarily indicate lack of flavor.

Information

Discussion Questions

• Who is not in the room right now and needs to be?
• What stood out to you most in this talk?
• How have social, cultural, and economic experiences shaped your relationship with food and/or farming?
• What methods of cultural transformation can be used to remake our food system?
• What’s the smallest thing you can do now to make a food dream of yours come true?
• How do we make the next generation of farmers, into a sustainable generation of farming?
• What kind of structural changes need to be made, to open up the doors for inexperienced farmers?

Where to Follow

http://www.masumoto.com/about-us/

www.facebook.com/MasumotoFamilyFarm

https://twitter.com/nmasumoto

Additional information

• Sign Up to be a part of the Masumoto Peach Corps and receive the official newsletter.
• “The Family Peach Farm that Became a Symbol of the Food Revolution”, NPR, March 14, 2015:  Dan Charles of NPR shares the story of Nikiko, her family and the Masumoto Family Farm.
• Newsletter sign up – https://www.changefood.org/media/change-food-newsletter

Take Action

Things You Can Do:

1. Ignite awareness about social and cultural histories in food and farming. No one enters life without legacies in relationship to power, privilege, and/or marginalization. Becoming aware of your position is the first step to equity.
2. At every gathering (especially sustainable food gathering), pause and ask, who is not in the room who needs to be? Has anyone been excluded (consciously or unconsciously)? How can we make this a more inclusive space?
3. Fund, support, and champion beginning farmers in anyway possible.
4. Dream big, think radically, act in small steps.
5. Integrate sustainability into your concept of yourself. (Remaking our food system is going to take a long time and a lot of work, be committed for the long haul and develop your own practices of resiliency.)
6. Do something more than just buying sustainably produced food. Though this is important (and please keep doing this!), we can’t rely solely on economic transactions to heal and feed the souls of farmers, farm workers, and eaters.

Go to Change Food’s Tumblr site to share and give us feedback on your experiences.