Op-ed: Farming With ‘Unrelenting Hope’ in the Age of Climate Change

Photo: This beautiful bowl of nectarines is a Stock Image for illustrative purposes only. Photo credit: Stephanie Sarlos via Unsplash. Op-ed by Nikiko Masumoto. Civil Eats – April 22, 2026.

For more than two decades, our small family fruit farm in the heart of California’s Central Valley has hosted a beloved program that we call “Adopt-A-Tree.” On two weekends in the summer, teams of people arrive from throughout California (in some years even from Oregon or Hawaii). We welcome them to the dusty fields of our farm to harvest “their” tree brimming with plump peaches or nectarines. They pick the jewels from the branches, pack their fruit into boxes in the fields, and leave with the smells of the day wafting through their cars: sweat, ripe stone fruit, and the fresh soil. […]

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