CSA
Our CSA is evolving for 2025 into a new multi-farm aggregate CSA through Choy Commons!
Find out more here.
What is a CSA?
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and is a way for consumers (that's you!) to provide economic support to farmers at the start of the season, when farmers incur the majority of their costs. The consumer pays up front for a season's worth of produce that is distributed weekly in a box, or share, that encompasses a variety of what is in season on the farm at that moment. There is a level of risk sharing involved in a CSA, for example if there is a hail storm and crops are killed or damaged, members will received fewer or lower quality items. However, when conditions are right and the farm is flourishing, members will receive a larger volume or variety of items.
By joining a CSA, you provide security for the farm that season, knowing that the produce will be going to a good home right from the day the seeds are planted. This security extends past economic, for the support of members uplifts the farmer on their hardest days and reminds us that our work is valued.
Why join?
Our CSA was born in 2020 as a way to provide fresh, locally grown produce to the NYC Asian American diaspora. The lockdown has stressed our supply chains and the importance of building our local food system has become more crucial than ever. The pandemic has made many of us reassess the importance of a healthy diet that strengthens our immune systems.
A healthy diet should not come at the cost of our cultural roots, and our CSA aims to bridge the gap in organic offerings by providing organic vegetables and herbs that our families are most fond of.
By becoming a member of my CSA, you are supporting a small business and transforming our local food system. Choy Division is one of a handful of Asian owned and run farms ( < 1% of farms in the US), and among a small but growing contigent of women farmers. Together, we can make sure that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are being heard in our local food and farming scene.
What's in a share?
Some of the things you can expect to see in your boxes include noodle beans, gai lan, husk cherries, kkaenip, Thai basil, scallions, chili peppers, chong gak radish, bok choy, winter squash, and bitter melon as well as a few mainstream vegetables like tomatoes, spinach, and potatoes that are common parts of the Asian diet. We promise that you will never find a bunch of kale in your shares!
A typical June share might include:
- Fava greens
- Celtuce
- Baby salad turnips
- Chong gak radish
- Shiso
- Cilantro
- Thai basil
- Baby Shanghai bok choy
- Choy sum
A typical September share might include :
- Kkaenip
- Milk Choy/baby white bok choy
- Purple and green noodle beans
- Japanese eggplant OR Burmese okra
- Bitter melon
- Shishito peppers
- Panther edamame
- Chili pepper mix
- Baby garlic chives
- Thai basil
A detailed email accompanies each share detailing the items in each share, stories behind them, recipes and preservation ideas, and a snapshot of what is going on on the farm.