sonoma county food belt

Agriculture, Artisanal Producers & Family Farms

Sonoma County encompasses a wide variety of landscapes: from oak-studded hills to flood plains, from redwood groves to windswept beaches. Take a Farm or Cheese Trail to see sustainable production and taste the best food in the country. An abundance of fruits, vegetables, and herbs blanket the countryside. Cattle, sheep, and pigs graze the landscape, chickens and turkeys scratch in the pastures, and goats and cows offer up fresh milk and cheese. Dungenesss crab, salmon, and briny oysters expand menu choices.

CHEESE

The rolling, finally greening hills of Sonoma County are home to vast herds of sheep, goats & cows AND to exceptional cheesemakers who carry the knowledge and inherited recipes of how to transform milk into delectable cheeses.

Search out Cowgirl Creamery, Gypsy Cheese Co., Pug’s Leap, Redwood Hill, Spring Hill Cheese, Tomales Farmstead Cheese, Valley Ford Cheese Co., Vella Cheese and

Weirauch Farm & Creamery.

OLIVE OIL

Our region produces extraordinary, high quality olive oil. You can’t go wrong helping to stock up on this delicious, nutrient-dense, gourmet staple grown and processed right here in Sonoma County. Go to Beltane Ranch, Dutton-Goldfield, Green String Farm, Hop Kiln, Kozlowski Farms, Larson Family Winery, McEvoy Ranch, Oak Hill Farm and Preston of Dry Creek.

CIDER

Hard cider is an up and coming Sonoma County specialty. Our cider makers are handcrafting and fresh-pressing batches using local heirloom apples. Try DeVoto Orchard Cider, Specific Gravity Cider Company and Tilted Shed Ciderworks!

WINE

This divine libation makes an excellent gift for any occasion. Diverse microclimates in Sonoma County translate into incredible varietals in our various appellations. Since we’re home to world-class wineries, take advantage and buy direct from the source.

HONEY

Honeybees visit thousands of flowers to produce just one teaspoon of honey. That’s a precious gift. We’re grateful for all those honeybees and their feats of pollination, which are the underpinnings of our agricultural systems. visit these producers and share the love: Bear Foot Honey, Beekind, Bloomfield Bees, Hector’s Honey, Lavender Bee Farm, Sonoma Garden Park and Suchernova Farm.

OYSTERS, DUNGENESS CRAB, PACIFIC KING SALMON, GIANT SQUID FISHING

Dungeness Crab season runs from November until June. Winter is when crab festivals pop up, families go crabbing off the end of piers, and others book space on a crabbing party boat out of Bodega Bay. A popular on-shore crabbing spot: the breakwater jetty off Doran Beach Regional Park. Another good place to try: the Marina Jetty at Bodega Bay’s Spud Point Marina (on the marina’s south end).

You can fish for something all the time in Bodega Bay, Rock cod, lingcod, halibut, Dungeness crab, sand dab, albacore tuna, giant squid. World class salmon fishing is right off the coast so no need to go to Alaska take a boat right out of Bodega Bay.

Tomales Bay, on the coast of Northern California, is where they grow, harvest, shuck and share great oysters. They are hand raising sustainable shellfish. Tomales Bay has the cool, clean water rich in plankton that oysters feed on to grow plump and sweet, and the flavor of the bay.

Hog Island Oyster Co., Tomales Bay Oyster Co.,