IRVINE — Tanaka Farms in Irvine hosted their annual Walk the Farm last Saturday. Over 2,000 walkers enjoyed sampling fresh vegetables and fruits as they toured the farm.
This year, the event raised $100,000, with $70,000 going directly to farmers who are still recovering from the earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan in 2011, and $30,000 to be donated to the Nisei Farmers League in Central California.
Glenn Tanaka of Tanaka Farms said that one of the farmers that they have helped in previous years has passed away.
“Three orchard farmers in Fukushima are still having a difficult time marketing their fruits at fair market price even though their fruit is not contaminated, but just the fact that it is from Fukushima,” Tanaka said. “One success story is a strawberry grower that began growing a year and half after the tsunami and is going strong.”
Next year’s Walk the Farm will take place on June 18, 2016.
Photo by RYOKO NAKAMURA/Rafu Shimpo