Roots CSA – Growing Our Roots

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By Kyle Tsukahira

Over the past month, the Asian and Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance (APIOPA) has begun rolling out our new Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) project, titled Roots CSA.

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Roots CSA is a collaborative project of APIOPA and the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA).  Our collective goal is to get fresh, sustainably grown, and culturally-relevant produce into Asian and Pacific Islander communities who lack access. We believe that the ability to acquire and frequent healthy food and environments is a right for all people, not a privilege which should be experienced by few.

Similar to the CSA project that APIOPA has run over the last year and a half, we connect local communities with local, small business farmers. For $60 per growing season (3 months, 6 total shipments), subscribers not only get access to affordable, organic produce that is culturally relevant, but they will also get to know their farmer. Subscribers are receiving fresh bok choy, eggplant, squash and many other items grown from California farms in Fresno, and as close as El Monte!

In addition, we like to share with subscribers that they are doing much more than keeping themselves and their families healthy through their fresh eats. By subscribing to Roots CSA, they are supporting local small businesses while also impacting climate change. In particular, rather than buying produce that is shipped from across the nation or even the world, our subscribers are limiting carbon emissions by purchasing right in their own backyard!