Remember when food was simple and honest? Cucumbers, salt, dill—pickles! Ingredients you could pronounce without feeling like you needed a chemistry degree? I sure do.

Foods didn’t have to hide behind mysterious 17-letter chemical concoctions just to taste good. They didn’t sit preserved in suspiciously vibrant states for months on end. They were fresh, flavorful, and fleeting, packed full of nutrients—and yes, real taste.

So what happened, folks?

Let me tell you a little secret: real food still exists, and it’s thriving right here in Spain.

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🇪🇸 Spain: Where Labels Don’t Lie (if you read Spanish, lol)

When I landed in Spain, I didn’t expect a food revolution in my own body. But a few weeks in, and suddenly my muscles had more pep, my skin said thank you, and my energy leveled up like I’d discovered a power-up mushroom in real life.

All because I was simply eating what was around me—local fruits bursting with sunshine, veggies fresh from the earth, grains that didn’t come from labs, and vegan foods that didn’t taste like a cardboard penalty box.

It felt… nostalgic. Like childhood canned peaches, sweet and gentle—not drowned in syrup, but alive and kicking.

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🇺🇸 Back in the Land of “Natural” Deception

Flashback to the U.S., where food played hide-and-seek with reality:

• “Fat-free”—packed with hidden sugars.

• “Healthy choice”—questionable at best.

• Serving size tricks: “1/4 cookie.” Seriously, who eats a quarter of a cookie?

Labels whispered comforting lies in tiny fonts, and good luck understanding half the ingredients unless you’re fluent in chemistry jargon.

Even Oprah got sued for simply saying she wouldn’t eat beef—proof that honesty and U.S. food industry aren’t exactly best buddies.

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🌍 A Crazy Thought: Truth from Abroad?

Imagine if we got honest, unbiased evaluations of American food from outside its borders. Imagine European labs casually revealing what’s really in your “nutritionally enhanced” cereal or your “heart-healthy” frozen meal.

Would they find vitamins hastily added back after processing wiped them out? Hormones and additives banned nearly everywhere else? Meals labeled “nutritious” failing basic standards elsewhere?

Spoiler alert: yes, yes, and definitely yes.

Because food is more than just calories; it’s a promise to nourish. And promises should be kept.

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💚 No Longer Starved of Real Nourishment

“Nutritional starvation” sounds dramatic, but I lived it—plenty of food, yet constantly feeling depleted. Now, I’m thriving on local greens, legumes, fresh mushrooms, seeds, and seasonal delights. My olive oil has a local pedigree, my oranges come from friendly street vendors, and eating out feels like an artful celebration of flavors rather than a sketchy compromise.

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✊ Final Bite (Before Dessert)

I’m not here to battle the American food industry—just to lovingly remind it that bridges built on junk ingredients and shady practices aren’t the bridges we deserve.

So, if you’re back in the U.S., feeling foggy, tired, or just not quite right, consider this: maybe it’s not you. Maybe it’s the food you’re eating.

You deserve better. Trust me—fresh Mediterranean peaches told me so.

— Oddly Robbie

Still savoring each bite, one honest ingredient at a time.