Discover how incarcerees used their farming skills to feed the camp and leave a lasting legacy on local agriculture.
Stop 2 Audio
Transcript
Before we came to camp, many of our families were involved in farming and agriculture in California. When we came to Amache, our fathers and mothers brought all of their farming skills and experience with them. The WRA organized the farm program at Amache that capitalized on the skills of the Issei and Nisei farmers.
The Amache Farm Program operated on 10,085 acres of land that was taken by the WRA through eminent domain from 18 different farms and ranches. Most of the land was part of the XY Ranch and the Koen Ranch. The Amache Farm Program used the old ranches, sheds, silos, a dairy farm, and the irrigation canals and fields they acquired from the existing farms and ranches. The program operated in 1943 and 1944 and was hugely successful. Amache farms produced 2. 7 million pounds of vegetables in 1943 and 3. 3 million pounds in 1944, enough to use at Amache, ship to other camps, and to sell. The farmers at Amache grew common vegetables like onions, potatoes, lettuce, and celery, and they also grew Japanese crops that had never been grown in the area, like moyashi mung beans, daikon radishes, napa cabbage, and habucha, a type of Japanese tea.
The Amache farms were so productive that they often had labor shortages. During harvest times, many of us would get recruited to help harvest fruits and vegetables from the field. The Amache Farm Program also used the ranches to raise livestock like pigs, beef and dairy cows, and chickens. Even though the farm program only lasted for two seasons, the Issei farmers helped permanently change farming in the area.
Amache farmers introduced commercial crops that are still grown in the region today, like the onion fields that grow just outside of the camp. During our more than three years here, we definitely made a lasting impression. It’s been many decades since we lived here, but traces of us are still present—From the crops that are still grown in the fields today, to the still living gardens and trees that we planted.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS: Continue going straight (south) down this road. You will reach Stop #3 in approximately a quarter of a mile.