Green Traveler’s: Look here to find organic food in Cape Town!

Traveling to a different continent, different country or just a different city, can usually make it very difficult to sustain your regular food habits. Though, often it is not because the food you want are not available, it’s just that you don’t know where to find it. Personally, I have had a very recent revelation that convinced me to be much better at eating organic food (I never used to care, and I am not a freak about it, I just got shocked and disgusted from watching the documentary Food Inc). And that inspired me to find out; Where can i buy organic food in Cape Town? Are there any organic restaurants, shops or farmer’s markets in the mother city? Let’s find out..

Eat Organic in Cape Town

The market for organic food in Cape Town has grown very fast over the past few years. And by market I mean both the supply and demand, of which the demand seems to have grown the fastest. This is good news and bad news. The good news are that the organic food is available, though the bad news are that it is not enough of it to fill all the stomachs that are craving more natural, green and healthy food. But hopefully that will change in the near future, as the demand hopefully stays strong and inspires farmers and store owners to look at organic options. And to help this progress, all you have to do is to cast your vote. And you do that every time you purchase organically produced foods or goods.

Where to Buy Organic Food in Cape Town

Here is a list of places that are either all organic, or at stock some organic foods and goods. I have linked to their website when they have one.

Organic Living – Constancia Village Shopping Centre, Cape Town.
Organic Living is a combined deli, vegetable market and health shop where everything is focused around living organically (as the name implies).

Kwalapa – 31 Newlands Avenue, Newlands, Cape Town.
Kwalapa is more than just a place to buy organic foods. They describe themselves as “an organic wholefoods store, deli and food design centre that’s out to make a difference”. They even host speakers, workshops and lectures in their Eco Pod to help you learn more about how to live green!

Quensh Organic Deli – 42 Lower Main Rd, Observatoy, Cape Town.
Quensh is also a combined store and restaurant where you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner with a menu that changes according to the seasons and what’s fresh and available each day (the way it should be!).

Wild Trading Store – 34 salisbury street, Woodstock, Cape Town.
This is a great store that actually also serves organic food at several other locations around Cape Town. They describe their main base on Woodstock with these words: “the trading store is a throw back to the days when shopping was an enjoyable experience. as well as a large selection of fresh organic produce, we stock bottled goods, dried fruit and nuts, breads, cheeses, eggs, tea, coffee, and a brunch of the day…made from the freshest organic ingredients available. “

Harvest of Hope
Harvest of Hope must be my favorite of all the food suppliers listed here. Though, unfortunately it is not suitable for traveler, as they don’t have a market. But the initiative is so great that it deserves to be mentioned anyways.

“Boxes of freshly packed vegetables grown with love and care to the highest organic standards in the food gardens of Cape Town’s townships“. That is what it is all about. Harvest of Hope (HoH) is a project where farmers in the Townships of Cape Town grow organic food in classroom sized gardens right there in the city. With more than 500 community gardens and hundreds of home gardens, they produce more food than the farmers can eat themselves. And this surplus food is sold to parents of children at the local schools. It is all organized by the wonderful organization Abalimi.

Sage Organic Cafe – 117 Hatfield, Gardens, Cape Town.
One of the very few organic cafes in Cape Town, located centrally by the Gardens.

Rondebosch Organic Market – Rondebosch.
This is a small weekly market held every Saturday morning from 7.30am – midday.

Miele Market – 31 Newlands Avenue, Newlands, Cape Town.
Freshly picked organic vegetables from their community garden in Khayelitsha on every Friday from 9am to 1pm.

Neighbour Goods Market – Woodstock.
Organic vegetables along with lots of other gourmet food, every Saturday between 9am and 2pm.

Don’t Panic – There’s more Organic

I hope this list will help satisfy your organic cravings. But if you need more information, or are looking for markets at other locations, check out these excellent websites that I used for researching this article:

UrbanSprout.co.za
Mothercityliving.co.za
Capetowngreenmap.co.za

Good luck with your green and organic travels! Please leave a comment below if you have a favorite organic food store / cafe that was not mentioned in this list!