Description

Jennifer Quinonez tells you all about how the Tanaka family adapted to the change in the agriculture business by becoming agritainers.

Transcript

Kenny Tanaka: Farming's tough, it's 7 days a week, long hours, I probably don't work half as many hours as they did, but it’s surprising how many challenges there are and they continue to stay in the farming business after all these years. Jennifer Quinonez: Kenny Tanaka may take over the family farm one day. It seems natural as it’s been a Tanaka family tradition to farm in Orange County for the last 60 years. But today this future farmer has concerns. You see, the last 25 acres they’re farming on now could easily be taken away from his father Glenn. Glenn Tanaka: Farming in the city, you always have to be prepared to move, there’s development, encroachment, going on all around you. Jennifer Quinonez: In 1998, development forced the Tanakas off the leased land they’d been farming on for 20 years. Jennifer Quinonez: What many people may not realize is that you are on this land year to year, it's leased land. That must put an enormous amount of pressure for you and your family to work. Glenn Tanaka: Very much so, in the past when it was whole sale we used to have two or three different ranches so if you lost one ranch you had the other two and you have time to find another ranch. Now this is my last piece of property that we're on. Jennifer Quinonez: Their customer base isn’t a wholesale client anymore. Now it’s kids, hundreds of them. Kenny Tanaka: I’m a 4th generation Japanese-American called “Yonsei”. My father who owns the farm he is a third generation called “Sansei”. He’s also a third generation farmer. Jennifer Quinonez: They’re all farmers yes, but more specifically Glenn, his wife Shirley and Kenny now call themselves agri-tainers. They’ve combined Glenn’s love of farming with entertainment and now give farm tours to families and school kids. Kenny Tanaka: This is a cucumber but it’s a different type. This is a brown cucumber. Kenny Tanaka: And when they get to come out here, the parents see the kids actually eat the fruits and vegetables, eat carrots, celery, it’s a good experience for them to learn where their food actually comes from. Jennifer Quinonez: By teaching the public about farming and letting them try their organic produce, the end result so far has been a favorable business move, a survival tactic to keep this farm going after many years of challenges and profit loss. Glenn Tanaka: Through the hardships I’ve had through farming, I would hope that I would have some business sense to adapt to my needs and adapt to situations and it took us here. It took us to being an open door classroom basically. Jennifer Quinonez: Going into the world of educational farming was a big risk at first, but it’s finally paying off financially and emotionally. Glenn Tanaka: And so the pressure is not just a selfish pressure for survival but I think we do a lot of good and we do a lot of education so there’s more pressure to stay here and be where we’re at, not just economically but from the standpoint I really think we’re doing a lot of good with the community. Jennifer Quinonez: Over the last two years, the Tanaka’s have been able to bring in 15,000 kids during periods like strawberry or pumpkin season. Jessica Vallejo: Tanaka Farms gives the kids an opportunity to taste vegetables that wouldn’t otherwise taste and I think they think it’s kind of a novelty because they’re just picking them off the ground and eating them because it’s an organic farm. Kenny Tanaka: So anything that starts as a flower and has seeds in it is considered a fruit. Glenn Tanaka: From when I started farming when I was 20, I just had visions of being a 300-acre strawberry, tomato grower, shipping produce all across the country and now I’m doing something completely different. Jennifer Quinonez: Kenny says he’s thrilled that the family farm business has gone in this direction because it’s a good way to ensure that he’ll stay farming in the future. Kenny Tanaka: I could have majored in agriculture, but decided to do business just to have something to fall back on. Jennifer Quinonez: But they say they do the best they can and keep rolling with the challenges that farming brings, the reason? Well, like many California farmers, it’s the desire to keep their family tradition alive. Shirley Tanaka: We’ve gone through ups and downs and we’ve had a lot of struggles throughout the years and finally it’s paying off and it’s been rewarding event though it’s a lot of hard work. Jennifer Quinonez: In the end the Tanakas believe this land they’ve continued to care for will continue to take care of them right down to their very last acre. Glenn Tanaka: Even as a farmer, you feel like you’re doing a lot. We’re feeding the country. Now we’re educating the county and that’s probably more fulfilling than farming.