Historically Salt Spring is a farming community and our agricultural roots remain evident today in the astounding number and variety of Island food producers thriving on the island.  Whatever you are looking for Islanders are likely making it.  Just some of the things you might want to sample include jams and jellies, nettle chai, locally made pickles, lavender cookies, hand crafted herbal teas, and smoked fish.  Once you have munched your way through these offerings you can wash it all down with a bottle of wine from one of the three wineries or a pale ale from the Gulf Island Brewery.

There are more then three-dozen restaurants, coffee shops and pubs on Salt Spring, which together serve a wide variety of food in every budget category.  Fresh made pasta, asian noodles, sushi, seafood, organic espresso, grab and go pizza, sandwiches, handmade chocolate, ice cream, locally produced gelato, fish and chips, steaks, burgers, vegetarian food, and ocean side fine dining are all available in the island’s main village of Ganges. There are also three village bakeries and a French pastry shop.

There is a full service restaurant, coffee shop and organic bakery in Fulford Village on the south end of the island beside the ferry terminal and government dock.  If you are looking for a bite in the north end there is a restaurant serving wood-fired pizza and a coffee shop near the picturesque Fernwood Dock and a full-service restaurant near the Vesuvius ferry terminal.

While exploring the island’s back roads you will find two cheese farms both with farm shops and three home based artisan bakeries.  Many other local producers and farmers sell their products at roadside farm stands where customers pay in the ‘honor box’.  If you are tight for time you can buy most local items at the Saturday Market.  Local grocery stores and Natureworks health food store also sell a wide selection of locally produced food and produce.