Eco-friendly food menu at Paris Olympics leaves athletes hungry for non-veg

While Paris 2024 aims to halve meal carbon emissions by offering more vegetarian options, athletes demand more steak, eggs, and larger portions to replenish after intense competitions

At the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024, it’s not just the taste of defeats troubling some athletes. Many have reportedly been disappointed with the catering services and are asking for more meat options on the ‘eco-friendly food menus’, as reported by the Associated Press (AP).

During a trial run at the Olympic Village restaurant in June, Games supremo Tony Estanguet emphasised Paris 2024’s goal of reducing average carbon emissions per meal by half compared to the previous Olympics by providing more vegetarian options.

To uphold France’s reputation for fine cuisine, the organising committee enlisted several Michelin-starred chefs as advisors to work with French multinational Sodexo, their food contractor, the report said.

 

However, during the first few days in the village, situated in a deprived suburb north of Paris, athletes demanded more steak, eggs, and larger portions to replenish themselves after intense competitions or gym sessions.

Issues with Olympics cuisines on offer

American gymnast Simone Biles expressed her disappointment with the 3,300-seat food court, which offers meals from six different dining areas around the globe. She commented on Tuesday that it wasn’t proper French cuisine like what people outside the village might be eating.

Meanwhile, his teammate and gold medalist Hezly Rivera echoed Biles’ sentiment, noting that while French food is good, the meals provided weren’t the best, but they were adequate.

Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs from Italy described the village as “nice, the food not,” a view shared by Jamaica’s two-time 200m world champion Shericka Jackson, AP said.

During a visit to the Olympics Village complex this week, AFP reports athletes revealed initial struggles with the food offerings, as half of the 50 dishes available daily were fully vegetarian.

However, Romanian rower Iulian Chelaru mentioned that the meat shortage had been resolved. A German swimmer remarked that the portion sizes initially left him wanting for more, but they had since improved.

Sustainable but uncomfortable changes

The vegetarian-heavy menu isn’t the only change in the Paris village compared to previous editions, leading some critics to label it ‘woke’. The housing complex, which will be converted into apartments post-Games, was built without air-conditioning, relying instead on a renewable underfloor geo-thermal cooling and heating system, the report added. 

A Canadian beach volleyball player was quoted as saying that there was plenty of protein available, but it required knowing where to find it. She added that they enjoyed their greens, so it wasn’t a problem, although some athletes were more inclined towards eating meat.

Problem of French heat

While some teams, such as the US, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and France, installed portable coolers for their athletes, others had to cope without, with temperatures rising above 30 degrees Celsius (95 F) and high humidity on Tuesday and Wednesday.

An Italian beach volleyball player mentioned that she suffered in the hot weather but had slept well with just a fan, although she believed air-conditioning would be better for recovery.

Lodging issues for Olympians

Others have found the innovative Japan-made beds in the village challenging. Made from cardboard bases and recycled plastic mattresses, including fish nets, they were previously joked about as being ‘anti-sex’ and designed to prevent athletes from jumping between the sheets. Spanish handballer Lysa Tchaptchet found her bed too hard and not ideal.