Bay Area Subsistence Fishing & Farm Poetry

Subsistence Fishing in the Bay Area. In the San Francisco Bay Area, many people, especially but not exclusively low-income people of color, fish for food to feed their families. But local pollution has contaminated fish near many urban areas, threatening those who eat the local catch. On Local Dirt, Torm Nompraseurt, a state organizer for the Asian Pacific Environmental Network and a resident of Richmond for more than thirty years, explains why subsistence fishing tends to be so economically and culturally important for those who do it. He explains that individuals respond differently to information about the risks -- and that for some, ceasing to fish doesn't seem to be a viable option.

Farm Poetry. Dori Stone (former Local Dirt host!) and Austin Smith share poems about agriculture and a few thoughts on how farming and poetry fit together in their lives. Dori reads her newest poem, "Happy Hour," and Austin reads "Instructions for How to Put an Old Horse Down" and "Song of the Lark." Austin's poetry has been published by Parallel Press, Longhouse, and ZYZZYVA, while Dori's non-fiction Beyond the Fence: A Journey to the Roots of the Migration Crisis was published by Food First last year.

Listen with the player below or click "divShare" to get the mp3.

Music Playlist:

"Bring Me Li'l Water Silvy" by Leadbelly (In The Shadows Of The Gallows Pole on Tradition)

"What Am I Gonna Do (With The Rest Of My Life)" by Merle Haggard (Live From Austin, TX: Merle Haggard on New West Records)

"Just One Kiss" by Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers (Roots Music: An American Journey on Rounder)