Janet Nagamine, Hikari Farms, and Honoring Legacy through Farming

And there are probably a lot, but what are the challenges of running an organic vegetable farm, but in particular Asian vegetables?

There are many challenges, but I think it's less the challenge of Asian vegetables.

That's not the problem.

I think the problem is farming and agriculture in general right now.

The way that food is treated, it's just a commodity to be bought and sold.

And in my mind, this is more of a service service.

And almost a spiritual practice, to be honest.

I would watch my father in the zone in the greenhouse for hours, either weeding or doing something to the cucumber plants.

And it was really beautiful to watch a craftsman.

It wasn't a job for him.

It was who he was.

He was one with the plants.

And that is how his long-term crew to this day who work with me are like.

And I just really gained a respect for people who know how to grow.

produce and who nurture the plants in the same way that I nurture humans in the hospital.

It's a living cell.

It's a living thing.

And I just gained a lot of respect for farming.

It was something I never really thought about, but it was beautiful.

And so that's what really got me sucked in and sold is that I don't see farming as a This awful industry where people and workers are dehumanized, well, that's because we don't do mass production.

It's really like a zen-like craft for my father and his team.

And we're not volume commodity and mass production based.

We're really more like an artisan craft company.

For your transition into becoming a farmer, was it hard for you? Well, it

happened very slowly.