A Tale of Prison, Peaches, and Persistence

Final yr, my household and I had the glory of listening to artist Jeanie Kashima, a longtime pal of my dad and mom, discuss her superb collages at Rosie the Riveter WWII Dwelling Entrance Nationwide Historic Park. Jeannie is Japanese American, and she or he was born within the Topaz Relocation Middle in Utah the place her household was imprisoned throughout World Conflict II. That have impressed her collages.
Collage by Jeanie Kashima
Be taught extra about Jeanie and her art work. 
Lots of people don’t know a lot about this darkish time in American historical past. However I believe it’s vital for us to keep in mind that in 1942, the U.S. authorities compelled Japanese Individuals (a lot of them US residents) into “relocation facilities” due to an government order President Roosevelt issued in response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Households have been incarcerated for as much as 4 years.
Collage by Jeanie Kashima
After Jeanie’s speak, I learn this staggering statistic within the park’s Customer Training Middle: Within the Forties, previous to the internment of Japanese Individuals, “Japanese farmers have been chargeable for 40 % of all greens grown in California, together with almost one hundred pc of all tomatoes, celery, strawberries and peppers.” Internment modified all of that. By 1960, three-fourths of America’s Japanese American farmers have been not farming. In lots of circumstances, they farmers have been compelled off their land and couldn’t reclaim it after they returned dwelling.
There’s no method to calculate the devastation that internment brought on—not solely to households and communities however to our meals system.
Right here at The FruitGuys, we’ve got a private connection to a few of these farming households. Farmers Joe Takashi Masumoto and Carole Yukino Sugimoto have been each imprisoned with their households from 1942–1946 on the Gila River Relocation Middle within the Arizona desert. Two years after their launch, they bought married and began Masumoto Household Farm in Del Rey, California, rising forty acres of grapes, plums, peaches, and nectarines.
Joe and Carole’s son, David Mas Masumoto, talking on the EcoFarm 2024 convention
Now, nearly eighty years later, the Masumoto household continues to be farming stone fruit. Their farm has been licensed natural for the reason that Eighties, and so they’re identified for his or her vibrant and juicy Solar Crest peaches, which they’ve grown for over fifty years. At first of every summer season, my staff and I begin counting down the times till we will style Masumoto peaches and add them to our fruit packing containers.
We’re honored to function Masumoto peaches every summer season and like to assist their household farm. You’ll be able to be taught extra in regards to the farm right here.
Might is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and I wrote this text in honor of the Masumoto household and all the different AAPI farmers we work with at The FruitGuys. Thanks to your endurance, your dedication, and, most of all, your fabulous fruit.
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