Not Sure How Many Alumni Ever Ate Red River
3January 2, 2023 by Doug Webster
It was a Canadian cereal, and in the years I attended – mid 50s thru 1960- it was often a staple for canoe trip breakfasts.
Red River occupied no middle ground: You either loved it or hated it. I was in the latter camp. Loved oatmeal but just never got into Red River….with those of us who loathed it often referring to it as “bird seed.” Unlike oatmeal it contained lots of little hard round seeds, akin to buckshot that firmly resisted softening due to cooking.
I recall a story Park Huber once told, of returning to his family home in the Philly suburbs one fall and getting a craving for some Red River. In his mind, a morning breakfast of the stuff in a dewey misted morning campsite, topped with a cling peach half in syrup (carried in bulky cans of course by bent-kneed portagers) was something akin to a religious experience.
What Park failed to realize was that on canoe trips, most everything tastes pretty darned good, even when it isn’t. In his case, he told his parents they were going to just LOVE a breakfast with cereal and cling peach. The level of appreciation turned out to be somewhat less than his fond memory of how good it was in an enamel bowl with a few pine needles added.
At any rate, it appears that the stuff is making a comeback in Canada according to this story from The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/02/how-canadians-got-their-beloved-breakfast-cereal-back
For those of you who remember the stuff, what was your opinion of it?
Camp Otter Dorset, Ontario 
We still eat Red River occasionally and have some in our refrigerator. We stocked up when last in Canada (2014). Some years ago my brother said it was available in Ely, MN, which borders the Boundary Waters canoe area. Thanks for the news. We can now put in our order and restock from Arva Flour Mill. I’ve always liked Red River. However, what we last bought when cooked generates an unappetizing gelatinous film. I don’t remember having to contend with that. It is not possible to get it fully off so the cooked grain with its wheat, rye, and flax seeds can really be enjoyed without the taint. The gooey film does not stop my wife from eating the cereal or finding the inspiration to dig out the box to change the course in the usual breakfast routine. She’s always polite enough to ask me, “Do you want some Red River?” You’d have to know her to understand why Red River, despite the yucky film, fits her palate. She’s capable of eating almost anything like a fallen nut or fruit off the ground and will go out of her way to collect Nature’s bounty in the wild. Somehow she survives. Must be something about the genes. I avoid the ground fruit. But with this Post, I’m inspired. Maybe I’ll try some Red River in the morning.
Absolutely LOVED Red River Breakfast cereal! In camp or on a canoe trip, nothing better…well maybe a freshly caught fish but…
I’m not sure why my comment was listed as “anonymous”. I’m Robert Hoffarth, youngest grandson to the original “HBO”!!