Source: Gosia Wozniacka, CIVIL EATS, 10/5/21


Nikiko Masumoto grew up revering the peach trees and grape vines on her family’s farm in California’s Central Valley. The orchard and vineyard have been passed down through her Japanese American family for generations and their fruits were the juicy economic engines that fed her community and assured the farm’s survival. But this year, there’s anguish in the peaceful groves as record-breaking heat waves, air-polluting wildfires, and droughts repeatedly pummel California. Warmer winters and more severe droughts spell poorer fruit sets and smaller fruit. And Masumoto, who returned 10 years ago to farm with her father,

For more of this story, click here.