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<\/p>\nWhat is the Valley?<\/p>\n
At the northern edge of the Fresno State campus, the view extends across the rich agricultural soil of the 1,000-acre university farm and out toward the snow-dusted peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains. To the left, a cluster of buildings is framed by the Bulldog water tower; to the right, a diverse mix of students move about. In the warm heat of summer, the scene appears sharp and bright, while in the colder months, it may be obscured by a dense tule fog.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is the Central Valley \u2014 one of the most fertile, complex and misunderstood regions in the country \u2014 and Fresno State sits squarely at its heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Where the palm meets the pine\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Geographically, the Central Valley stretches 450 miles from Redding to Bakersfield, hemmed in by the Coast Ranges to the west and the Sierra Nevada to the east. It is divided into two large parts \u2014 the northern one-third is known as the Sacramento Valley and the southern two-thirds is known as the San Joaquin Valley. Within the San Joaquin Valley, Fresno is the largest city, a crossroads where northern and southern California influences mingle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Dr. Scott Peterson is an assistant professor in geomatics engineering at Fresno State. He said the geographic center of California is often considered to be located in North Fork, east of Highway 99 in Madera County. This stands in contrast to the popular belief that the midpoint lies\u00a0 \u201cwhere the palm\u00a0 meets the pine\u201d\u00a0 \u2014 two trees\u00a0 planted in the median of Highway 99\u00a0 near Avenue 11 in Madera.<\/p>\n
The palm, symbolizing Southern California, and the pine, symbolizing Northern California, have long been seen as markers of the state\u2019s north-south transition. Yet, their exact origin remains uncertain, with no definitive historical record of when or why they were planted \u2014 though they are thought to be at least a century old.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cI give extra credit to students in my classes to go visit where the palm meets the pine, or North Fork \u2014 for them to see the center of California,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cEven if it may be mathematically not perfect, who cares? It\u2019s a pretty cool thing we have right there. And to be honest with you, when you look at a map yourself and try to find the center of California, it\u2019s\u00a0 pretty close.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Public concern arose when residents believed the trees might be removed to accommodate freeway expansion. But the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) reassured the community: the landmark palms and pines will not be lost. Instead, they will be relocated nearby, with 15 new palms and 15 new pines planted to honor the site next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Peterson, a Valley transplant who has been in Fresno for 11 years, is glad the symbolic mark is being preserved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d describe the Valley\u2019s land as precious \u2014 so valuable. People have farmed it, provided for their families, provided for other people\u2019s families. It becomes such an integral part of life that you protect it, almost like a member of your family,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I drive on the 99, and I pass the palm and the pine, and I see rows of crops, I see beauty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fuel for the world\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Valley is known as the agricultural capital of the world. Almond orchards bloom in early spring, sweet corn peaks in freshness by June, and grapes hang heavy in late summer and fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scale of the production is remarkable,\u201d said Dr. Sharon Benes,\u00a0an agriculture professor in the Department of Plant Science at Fresno State. \u201cOur mild, mediterranean climate provides a very long growing season with almost continuous sunshine from the late spring to early fall. And ironically, the lack of rainfall in the summer makes it easy for farmers to control soil moisture through irrigation, which they can manage according to the most suitable times for the crop.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though it represents less than 1% of the nation\u2019s farmland, the Central Valley produces more than a quarter of the country\u2019s food supply. Nearly 40% of America\u2019s fruits and nuts are grown here, along with over 250 crops each year \u2014 making the Valley the most vital and productive agricultural region in the world. It\u2019s no wonder Fresno State Athletics proudly features the Green V, honoring the Valley\u2019s rich agricultural heritage and the hardworking communities that help feed the nation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I think of agriculture\u2019s effect on the culture, I think of the resilience of the people,\u201d she said. \u201cNot everyone here is involved in agriculture, but there is a sense of land stewardship, of people wanting to do a good job, of resilience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pride rooted in its people\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Matthew Jendian, professor of sociology at Fresno State, agreed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a sense of resilience, hard work and grit in the Valley, because of the economic challenges people have faced, and how they have overcome,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Known as one of the most diverse places in the country, immigration patterns show a long history of movement into the region \u2014 from Indigenous communities whose roots stretch back thousands of years, to Dust Bowl migrants in the 1930s, to farmworkers and families from Mexico and later refugees from Southeast Asia. Armenian and Greek survivors of genocide, Sikh and Punjabi immigrants from India, and more recent arrivals from the Middle East have also made the Valley home, each bringing their cultures, traditions and faiths.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over 100 languages are spoken within Fresno schools, a testament to the linguistic diversity within the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere else can you go in the world and hear a hundred different languages, or taste food from every corner of the globe?\u201d Jendian asked. \u201cIn Fresno and the Valley, diversity touches all the senses \u2014 we can see it, hear it, smell it, taste it and even join in. That richness is something we need\u00a0 to celebrate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jendian emphasized the Valley is not a \u201cmelting pot,\u201d where differences are erased, but a place of pluralism where communities adapt to American life while also retaining their languages, religions and traditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have to give up who we are to become American,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can add to our cultural capital while embracing our American identity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the Valley is not without its challenges \u2014 poverty, inequality and questions of regional self-esteem \u2014 Jendian said it is also a region defined by love, wisdom and perseverance that cannot be measured by money alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From the palm and the pine to the fields and classrooms, the Valley is defined by both its land and its people; it is a place where heritage and hope grow side by side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I think of Pride of the Valley,\u00a0 I think of our people,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir grit, their strength, their love \u2014 that is what makes me proud.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s what Fresno State represents.<\/p>\n
Written by Esra Hashem (\u201813, \u201816, \u201821); Illustrations by Todd Graves (\u201803); Photos by Cary Edmondson (\u201802)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What is the Valley? At the northern edge of the Fresno State campus, the view extends across the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-77533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}