Though Asians make up almost 10% of Washington’s population, only around 1% of the state’s farm producers are Asian. Out of the 711 farms with any Asian producers, only 82 grow vegetables, and many of those don’t grow Asian crops. So getting fresh, locally grown Asian vegetables and herbs can be difficult depending on where you live. There are Asian groceries in Seattle, like Uwajimaya, H Mart and Fou Lee market, among others, that have good selections of Asian produce. But Asian American farmers in Washington state tout the hyperlocal — and therefore hyperfresh — quality of their produce as a distinguishing factor.
In recent years, the Greater Seattle area has seen the birth of a few farms now growing a diverse array of Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Filipino and other Asian vegetables. Some farmers, like Katsumi Taki of Mair-Farm Taki, have been growing Asian crops for decades. But many of the other farmers growing Asian vegetables for Seattleites are new to farming and started their farms in the last several years to connect with their Asian identities — through vegetables.
These new farmers are part of a national trend of Asian Americans starting farms commercially growing Asian vegetables in the last few years, says Kristyn Leach, a farmer in California who started Second Generation Seeds, a national seed collective focused on Asian heirloom seeds. Leach says these farmers are successful now, when they might not have been before, because American food culture is changing to value Asian food, and high-end restaurants that can afford locally grown produce are now buying Asian crops. She says these new Asian American farmers, many of whom are second-generation Americans who have better economic opportunities than their parents did, have less pressure to make money and more freedom to explore their identities through their careers.
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