I must admit it positively concerns me.
And the more I learn, the more I read, the more concerned I become.
So what is it that gets me in this state. This state of anxiety, of deep concern.
Well it is an everyday thing. It is simply food, or the stuff that is often sold to us as food.
Why I say often sold to us as food, is because in many ways it is not really food at all. Rather it is an energy dense, nutrient poor concoction of chemicals and preservatives, laden with sodium and sugar.
We can call it fake food.
I Loved Fake Food
When I was a younger, I loved fake food. I loved the taste, I loved the texture, while my body only remembered the short term boost of energy all that sugar gave me. What my body did not remember was the “down” after the sugar hit. It did not remember the lack of true satisfaction you get when you eat this fake food.
Nor did it seem to remember the real satisfaction it got after having a meal of “real” food.
Other than long term satisfaction, what is the problem with fake food?
So What’s The Problem With Fake Food?
It is the links to obesity, the links to a myriad of physical and maybe even mental ailments that concerns me. On another level, it is also that this food is not “natural”. It’s production invariably involves the use of many artificial compounds, while the source material is industrially farmed.
The production of this fake food is usually in the hands of multinational corporations. Those huge faceless companies that now dominate much of our world.
Human beings did not evolve to consume this stuff, unlike “Real Food”.
What is Real Food you ask?
Of course this is my opinion, but I think “Real Food” is the produce and items you find around the outside of the supermarket. Vegetables, fruit, dairy (well some dairy anyway) and meat. Produce of the soil, even if it has gone through an animal to get to its present form.
Not food produced in a vat of chemicals.
Taking The Food Story To Heart
Over the last few years, River Valley has taken this food story to heart. We have redesigned our menus and made a concerted effort to source our meat from producers that have high standards of animal welfare and if possible have regenerative farm practices. Organic is also another plus.
More and more nutrient rich vegetables come from our own organic gardens. Eggs served through the Lodge kitchen come from our own free range flocks of laying hens.
Real Adventures and Real Food
We like to think Real Adventurers need Real Food.
Whether it is on the river, on a horse, or eating a meal at River Valley Lodge, we like to keep things “Real”.
To find out more about what we are doing with food, follow this link which details where the Lodge food comes from.
Brian Megaw