Tamr

Every year, Yasmin Abuhamad’s family would escape the heat of summer and return to Bahrain to be welcomed home by an abundance of dates from the trees in their garden. Since moving to California, she desperately missed the taste of fresh Arabian dates that are truly incomparable to anything she could find at the store. Over a weekend this summer, she visited the farmer's market in Salmabad, Bahrain to browse the seasonal fruits and vegetables and found herself at the Palm Tree Festival. She was enticed by the kindness of the vendors and the colorful display of the rich August harvest: looz, at-tin, and tamr. Tasting the red, brown, and gold fruits that dripped off the trees was like receiving an offering from al nakhla, a parcel of warmth and sweetness. It welcomed the child within her home.  

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Yamin Abuhamad is half Palestinian, half Filipino-American who was born and raised in Bahrain. She’s currently a senior at UC Berkeley, majoring in molecular environmental biology with an emphasis in ecology. She’s also double minoring in nutritional science and food systems. After being supported by the land and her community, she intends to return home after graduation and use the scientific and traditional ecological knowledge she gained overseas to regenerate land using agroecology, address desertification, and promote food security in the region. Follow her on Instagram for more of her work.