Mas Masumoto

Mas Masumoto is a third-generation farmer—he grows organic peaches, nectarines, and raisins on an 80-acre farm south of Fresno. He is also the author of 14 books, including Epitaph for a Peach, Changing Season, Wisdom of the Last Farmer, Four Seasons in Five Senses, and Harvest Son. Along with his wife, Marcy, and his daughter, Nikiko, he published a family farm cookbook, The Perfect Peach, in 2013. Changing Season, a documentary about the theme of succession on the Masumoto family farm, was nationally broadcast by PBS in May 2016. His most recent book, Secret Harvests, was featured on NPR Unsung Hero, Milk Street Radio, and Snap Judgment. He along with daughter Nikiko will publish a children’s book, Every Peach Is a Story, in 2025. His writing awards include Commonwealth Club Silver Medal, Julia Child Cookbook Award, the James Clavell Literacy Award; he was a finalist for a James Beard Foundation Award and National Book Critics Circle Award. The National Resources Defense Council recognized Wisdom of the Last Farmer as the Best Environmental Writing in 2009. He currently serves on the board of CalMatters and the Central Valley Community Foundation. He was a Kellogg Foundation Food and Society Policy Fellow from 2006 to 2008. He served on the Public Policy Institute of California board of directors from 2009 to 2023 and was board chair from 2016 to 2018; he currently serves on the PPIC Statewide Leadership Council. He previously served on the James Irvine Foundation board; he also chaired the California Council for the Humanities board. In 2013 President Obama appointed him to the National Council on the Arts, the board for the National Endowment for the Arts and served until 2022. He is currently a columnist for the Fresno Bee.