CCOF-certified organic farmer and author David Mas Masumoto will join CCOF via Zoom on October 4 from noon to 1 p.m. for a discussion of his new book Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm. Click here to register.
Mas and his family grow delicious organic peaches, nectarines, and raisin grapes in California’s Central Valley. Mas’ most well-known book, Epitaph for a Peach, explored the complexities of maintaining high-quality, heirloom fruit varieties in an era when convenience and the ability of fruits to be shipped are more highly valued than flavor. Mas’ writing paints vivid images of the land that his family has farmed for decades as well as his connection with the earth through organic farming. He has a great sense of place and history, which includes the legacy of racial tensions his family has negotiated for generations, such as the period when the family was unjustly incarcerated along with thousands of other Japanese American families during World War II.
Here’s some background on Secret Harvests:
Organic peach and raisin farmer David Mas Masumoto’s new memoir follows a journey of discovering a “lost” aunt who was separated from the family due to racism and discrimination against the disabled. A Japanese American family are reunited 70 years later, returning to their roots on a farm and bound by secrets. In this new memoir, Mas is haunted by questions and driven to explore his own identity and the meaning of family—especially as farmers tied to the land—uncovering stories that bind him to a sense of history buried in the earth that he works and a sense of place that defines his community.