Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Speaking of peaches and prose, Masumoto charms Shivvers Lecture audience

Back to Leopold Letter Spring 2010

By MARY ADAMS, Outreach and Policy Coordinator

David Mas Masumoto is a third-generation farmer, and his daughter aims to become the fourth generation in his family to nurture the organic peach trees on their farm near Fresno, California. Even though his crops are different than those of Iowa farmers, Masumoto delivered a variety of amusing, thoughtful and provocative messages to a rapt audience at the 2010 Shivvers Memorial Lecture February 28 at Iowa State’s Memorial Union.

Masumoto, the author of eight books on his farming experiences including the highly-praised Epitaph for a Peach, combines the hard truths of farming with a lyrical rendition of the rewards that sustain farmers. Each of his stories carries some baggage from his farm life. As he put it, “The best farms constantly go through transformation. We are trying to grow more than produce.” His motto, inscribed in Japanese characters in the books he autographed for eager readers, is simple but telling: Fall down seven times, get up eight times.

He talks about his peach crops with a rueful but deep-seated affection, recalling the once popular Elberta variety that “bruised when you stared at it.” This rendered it unsalable in the modern food system where shelf life is a major consideration. Masumoto commented, “We’ve been insulted by the cheap food system.” He described his frustration at trying to sell his delicate, succulent, perfectly ripened peaches to commercial buyers who are interested in only three things: size, color and cosmetics. He says he farms in “gourmet dust” to sustain those 80 acres of gorgeous peach trees.

The Elberta Peach Tree Adoption program on his “public” farm has been a way to connect his customers more intimately with the natural rhythm of the growing season. Prospective adoptive peach parents fill out a questionnaire, and are asked how they will use the 500 pounds of peaches generated by “their” tree. Some were insistent that Masumoto give them an exact date when the peaches would be ripe so they could put it on their calendars. His response, “We don’t do Caesarean peaches.” Those adopted peaches will be ready sometime in late July or early August, and the adoptive parents will have to decide just when to pluck them from the branch—a good lesson on the farmer’s eternal dilemma of when to harvest.

He read several passages from his newest book, The Wisdom of the Last Farmer, which described how he and his family helped his father, who suffered a stroke, return to the farm life he loved. “We farm from memory,” says Masumoto, as he explained why in order to be successful, his father’s physical therapy had to be conducted on uneven surfaces similar to the farm’s earth underfoot rather than smooth urbanized surfaces.

The Masumoto family’s backstory is equally compelling. His grandparents, both second sons, came from Japan 100 years ago and were able to rise from farm workers to landowners. This came despite their being relocated to a camp in Gila Bend, Arizona for four years as part of the wartime Japanese-American internment program.

Back to Leopold Letter Spring 2010