Where your food comes from
Yoga Sutra Shala Retreat Centre is located in La Valle de Laguar - a peaceful valley - located a few kilometres inland from the Mediterranean Sea.
Yoga Sutra Shala Teacher Training is located in the beautiful Pego Valley.
The climate in these areas provides pleasant weather, with hot dry summers, mild winters and moderate rainfall, making it ideal for growing a variety of foods. Autumns and winters yield foods such as lemons, oranges and olives and in the spring season, beans, peas and cherries are in abundance!
The organic farmers in Valencia have made an agreement amongst themselves to distribute their produce only within a radius of 25km of their farms, thus supporting the local community, ensuring the freshness of their produce and minimising the effects of transport on the environment. By farming organically they are also sustaining the richness of the land, by respecting the soil.
The fruits and vegetables used at the retreat are grown at four small organic farms in the nearby area.
As they have not travelled far to reach us, the fruits and vegetables that we use are fresh and nutrient dense.
Our suppliers, Joan and Merxe Folques, grow pesticide-free and naturally-fertilized produce.
Crops are grown in small batches and in accordance with the seasons.
Crop rotation and the use of green fertiliser* as well as goat and horse manure, allow the soil to replenish naturally and this nutrient-rich soil produces highly nourishing foods.
Twice each week we receive deliveries of the fresh fruit and vegetables that have been hand-picked that day or the night before. This fresh produce is carefully selected to prepare your delicious meals, ensuring that you get the most goodness from your food.
*green fertiliser is produced by planting nitrogen-fixing plants (usually in the late autumn / winter) - such as broad beans, peas, alfalfa – and when they flower in the spring, the plant is ploughed in to the soil.
At breakfast the organic bread that we serve has been prepared especially for you by an experienced local baker, Carmen, in what is one of the last remaining stone-bake ovens in the region.
The bread is made using organic seeds and organic wholegrain flours that have been milled from original (non-modified) grains such as Kamult and Spelt.
From a young age Carmen has been making natural sourdough breads, which contain probiotics that assist in the assimilation of the grains that the bread is made with, thereby easing the digestive process and making the nutrients more accessible to the body.
Carmen also adds locally grown organic rosemary to her breads, to help reduce the acrylamide content - the only unhealthy thing in bread.
The grains, nuts, pulses and seeds that you will eat here, come from a few different suppliers.
All are based in Spain and provide exclusively organically-grown produce, that has either been grown on their own farms or on other small farms in their area and that form part of their organic cooperative.
The flours they supply are from wholegrains milled in their own stone mills as needed, to guarantee freshness.
It has been an amazing experience for us finding these suppliers in our vicinity and we feel both privileged and delighted to be able to offer you organic foods of such great quality.
We hope you will enjoy your meals...
Buen provecho!
Using these organic ingredients and the skill of our wonderful chefs, we offer you delicious and nutritious plant-based meals during your stay with us.