California date palm ranches reap not only fruit, but a permit to host weddings and quinceañeras
Small date palm ranch owners in Southern California’s Coachella Valley have been petitioning for permission to host special events ranging from quinceañeras to weddings on their properties
COACHELLA, Calif. — Claudia Lua Alvarado has staked her future on the rows of towering date palms behind the home where she lives with her husband and two children in a desert community east of Los Angeles.
It’s not solely due to the fleshy, sweet fruit they give each year. Their ample shade and the scenic backdrop they form draw scores of families seeking an event space to host celebrations ranging from weddings to quinceañeras, traditional coming-of-age events for girls' 15th birthdays that are observed in Latin American cultures.
Lua Alvarado is one of several dozen owners of small ranches that produce dates and double as event venues catering to the Coachella Valley’s predominantly Latino community.
“This is what sells our property,” said Lua Alvarado, a 42-year-old fashion designer who bought the 8-acre (3.2-hectare) plot seven years ago. “It feels like we’re in Hawaii or some other tropical place.”
While the region is known for blistering heat and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival that draws thousands of people each year, it’s also responsible for more than 80% of the country’s dates thanks to the arid climate and ample groundwater, according to the California Date Commission.
Most dates are grown by large-scale producers that also pack and ship the fruit. Lua Alvarado and other small producers harvest dates from their land and sell them to big producers, but that’s not enough to make ends meet.
Many have other jobs ranging from landscaping to horse training and run the ranches, or ranchos as they’re known in
Read more on abcnews.go.com
