Aired on KQED's The California Report Magazine on October 25th, 2013:
http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201310251630/d
http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201310251630/d
If you drive southeast of Palm
Springs through the Eastern Coachella Valley, it’s easy to get a little
overwhelmed by the date palm trees. They grow as tall as 70 feet, and they’re
everywhere, filling thousands of acres. Dates aren’t native to the Coachella
Valley, but they’ve given this region an identity and became a top crop. When I was reporting in the region last spring, I got curious about the history of date production, and about the dangerous job of the palmero, the date palm worker.
Here, also, is an audio slideshow detailing the "Arabian Fantasy" agritourism promoted by date industry boosters starting in the early 1900s.
If
you drive southeast of Palm Springs through the Eastern Coachella
Valley, it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed by the date palm trees.
They grow as tall as 70 feet, and they’re everywhere, filling thousands
of acres. Dates aren’t native to the Coachella Valley, but they’ve given
this region an identity and became a top crop. - See more at:
http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201310251630/d#sthash.rRucrqvm.dpuf
If
you drive southeast of Palm Springs through the Eastern Coachella
Valley, it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed by the date palm trees.
They grow as tall as 70 feet, and they’re everywhere, filling thousands
of acres. Dates aren’t native to the Coachella Valley, but they’ve given
this region an identity and became a top crop. - See more at:
http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201310251630/d#sthash.rRucrqvm.dpuf
If
you drive southeast of Palm Springs through the Eastern Coachella
Valley, it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed by the date palm trees.
They grow as tall as 70 feet, and they’re everywhere, filling thousands
of acres. Dates aren’t native to the Coachella Valley, but they’ve given
this region an identity and became a top crop. - See more at:
http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201310251630/d#sthash.rRucrqvm.dpuf
