Train Travel.
I don't know what it is with cafes & public transport. Whether it's airports or train stations & train's cafe shops, fresh fruit is hard to come by.
Travelling by train today, there was one lonely small pot of fruit in Costa I was quick to grab but hoping the train may have more fruit within its cafe I was wrong.
Just like Costa you are over-faced with a wide selection of chocolate, crisps, sandwiches, hot pies, cakes, tray-bakes and biscuits. There are no salads, or fresh fruit in sight.
Fruit and salads I would assume are just as easy for companies to get hold of and be able to sell. I understand the shelf life won't be as long as your packaged foods & they may lose a little money throwing some bits and pieces away.
It is so frustrating the direction we are going in. Everything packed & pre-made. Nothing fresh, nothing for people with allergies or dietary requirements that they know are completely natural and 'safe' for them to eat. It is also the wrong message to be giving out - just encouraging us to go for the quick option of picking up a pie & a brownie. For children especially this is a damaging message that they are surrounded by every second of every day. It doesn't encourage them to pick the healthy option or something nutritious . I am not saying we can't all have a treat! I sit here eating my sweets right now. However we love routine- we are creatures of routine. So grabbing that pie & brownie just becomes automatic after a while & we don't even consider other options, we just go for our 'trusty faves' and companies know this! That is why they display all their sweet treat goodies whilst you queue, to play on your boredom & hunger signals.
Airports especially are a challenge - with security being higher and stricter everyday you can't take you own food on the plane with you. All purchases have to be made within the airport itself. Yes this is of course another sneaky money making scheme but for people with dietary requirements, it is a stressful nightmare!
Going on holiday and travelling, whether it is by train on a short break or via plane should be an exciting time. The excitement is exchanged with anxiety and stress as you spend all your time going round the shops that are available within these stations and airports looking for food. You can always pick up bits and pieces but you can never get anything substantial which when it's a long journey isn't acceptable.
Having to live off a few nuts, and few small pots of fruit ( as even the fruit you do find companies don't got over board with portion size ) and in airports, service stations, train stations the price is always silly because they know you can't go anywhere else to eat or get food so will therefore pay the prices.
Once on the plane you're then face the fact you have to pick a meal type - so vegan, veggie, meat.. there is no flexibility. I know they have a lot of people to feed and I respect that. However you have to book and confirm these things SO far in advance now that I am sure they could source something!!
Companies still haven't got the hang of all the different allergens either, they think if they illuminate nuts or gluten the main ones that if you suffer from wheat & gluten intolerance that the gluten free option covers you! It doesn't! Gluten is the substance that sticks the grains of wheat together with the other ingredients. Wheat is the actually grain! It is totally different to gluten.
There have also been times when I have ordered a vegan meal and they have served me yoghurt. A yoghurt containing cows milk. I am lucky that my intolerances and allergies won't kill me, but that isn't the same for everyone!! The companies wouldn't be too happy if they were being sued because someone had, had a serious reaction on their premises and in their care!
We are travelling with them! We shouldn't be the ones panicking, on edge, having to check the labels because they haven't done their research properly.
More needs to be done, awareness needs to be raised, companies need to know the consequences of their ignorance & training needs to be provided.Stations, airport and services need to make fresh products more available. We aren't asking for a lot. Our food is a lot simpler than these complex packed goods! So it shouldn't be a problem and we should definitely NOT be paying more for them!!
Do any of you struggle when travelling?
Do you have any tips? What do you eat whilst travelling?
Love and peace - S xoxo