Creating Access for Asian Specialty Crop Producers
A two-year initiative connecting Fresno County's Asian specialty crop growers to food safety training, sustainable farming practices, business resources, and new markets — while bringing bitter melon, jujube, long beans, and other culturally rooted crops to a wider table.
Removing barriers for growers who feed a community, but rarely see the resources built for them.
Asian specialty crop producers in Fresno County — many Limited English Proficient and operating without formal financial infrastructure — have long faced language, cultural, and technical barriers to food safety training, business development, and market access.
ABIRC designed this initiative to close that gap directly: culturally and linguistically appropriate education, hands-on technical assistance, direct buyer connections, and a public awareness campaign built around the crops themselves — bitter melon, bok choy, jujube, long beans, lemongrass, Asian eggplant, mustard greens, and more.
Across five objectives, the program reached roughly 60 producers with programming that increased food safety compliance, strengthened sustainable growing practices, built business and marketing capacity, opened new buyer relationships, and introduced these crops to thousands of new consumers.
- Producers served~60
- PSA certifications earned66
- Agricultural & business workshops8
- Networking events6
- Buyers engaged20
- Farm tours2
- Fact sheets / reels / videos24 each
Five objectives, measured against real results.
Every figure below comes from ABIRC's pre/post assessments, attendance records, and follow-up surveys, as documented in the CDFA final evaluation report.
See the full report below ↓New buyer relationships for specialty crop growers
Six networking events connected producers directly with retail and wholesale buyers — for 75% of participants, their first networking event of any kind.
PSA Grower Training & certification
Three Produce Safety Alliance trainings certified 66 producers — 10% above target — with measurable gains in FSMA readiness.
Drought, irrigation, soil, and pesticide workshops
Four workshops trained 67 producers across the topics most relevant to Central Valley growing conditions.
Financial literacy, NAP, marketing, and crop planning
65 producers completed matched assessments across four business-focused workshops, with the strongest gains in financial literacy.
Bringing Asian specialty crops to a wider public
Fact sheets, video content, farm tours, and a recipe book introduced these crops to consumers across Fresno County and beyond.
The full final evaluation report
CDFA Specialty Crop Block Grant — Final Evaluation Report
The complete report covers methodology, detailed outcome data for all five objectives, producer testimonials, and program conclusions submitted to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Photo gallery
Workshops, PSA trainings, farm tours, and food demonstrations from across the program. Click any photo to enlarge.
Trainings & Workshops
Farm Tours & Demos
Networking Events
Specialty Eats Recipe Book Distribution
Cooking demonstrations & the Specialty Crop Cookbook
Recipes and preparation techniques for the crops featured throughout the program.
ABIRC Cooking Demonstrations
Full playlist of cooking demonstration videos from the ABIRC YouTube channel.
Watch on YouTubeSpecialty Eats Recipe Book
24 recipes and botanical insights for Asian specialty crops, developed and distributed throughout the program.
