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Janet Nagamine

Janet Nagamine

Owner/farmer of Hikari Farms in Watsonville, CA and an internal medicine doctor — a doctor-turned-farmer who runs her Japanese American family's organic farm.

Aug 26, 2026

34:34
My question for you again is, why is it important for you to continue Hikari Farms and the produce that you grow specifically, but also the route that you're taking with connecting with school districts, making connections with restaurants and so forth? Why is it important for you to continue that work through Hikari Farms?
34:57
Part of it is personal, part of it is professional.
35:02
I think on the personal level, the things that I unexpectedly struggled with as we were trying to figure out how to move forward had a lot to do with stewardship and being accountable and responsible to your community.
35:27
And the people who came to lease the land also wanted to purchase it, but it was just a commodity to be bought and sold.
35:38
And that's not how I saw this.
35:42
And the other personal thing is the heritage.
35:46
Just this morning, I had been in contact with the seed company in Japan that my father has worked with for over 20 years.

8 MINS LATER

43:59
All that to say is, how can people support Hikari Farms and other local farms? Like, what can they do? Because what if someone who's listening to this lives in a totally different state or so? What are your recommendations on someone who does want to support local farms in their area?

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