Paris Olympics: Vegan is the way to go as Games Village reduces meat, cheese, dairy products on menu to reduce carbon footprint

If the Rio Olympics’ biggest challenge was to build infrastructure from ground up and Tokyo had to contend with a virus decimating sporting events, Paris 2024 has chosen to go to war against an integral component of the French way of life – its food.

At Paris, athletes, staff and media personnel will be served an extensive Games Village menu, but with a limited spread of what the country is best known for – its meat, cheese and dairy products. The move comes from a desire to reduce animal protein intake and carbon footprint.

When the Games were awarded to Paris, one of the key factors in the decision was environmental concerns. With most of the sporting infrastructure in place, the only new venue developed for the Olympics was an Aquatics Centre at Saint-Denis. That hall is solar-powered, made from recycled and bio-based building material.

Paris has an ambitious plan for curbing its carbon footprint – they are estimating a carbon footprint of 1.58 million metric tons of CO2, less than that of the Covid-hit Tokyo Olympics (1.96 million metric tons of CO2). London 2012 had a CO2 emission of 3.4 million metric tons.

Building new venues is what drastically increases emissions. The organisers also convinced four contingents (the Netherlands, Britain, Belgium and Switzerland) to travel via train to Paris and is requesting visitors from the continent to do the same. There is a robust public transport system and bicycles are available for local travel. But the biggest change is the reduction in animal protein intake.

But why food? And particularly, why animal protein?

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, livestock farming – the act of growing cattle for food – contributes to 15 percent of global greenhouse emissions and essentially puts animal protein in the same bracket as the transport industry. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024 says that when a large group of people eat plant-based meals, employ sustainable public transport for travel and make environment- friendly choices, it forces businesses to cater to changing trends.

According to estimates, the Olympic Games Village will prepare 13 million meals and snacks. The International Olympic Committee says 60 percent of them will be plant-based options. The target is 1 kilogram of CO2 per meal – half of the norm at previous Olympic Games.

It aims to meet that target by including more fruits and vegetables while also using seasonal and local produce (in order to stop excessive transport of food, France intends to source 80 percent of ingredients from within the country).

Predominantly meat-based France

On a day-to-day basis, veganism isn’t the predominant food choice in France. The global average meat consumption is estimated to be 28.1 kg per capita annually. In France, that number shoots up to 83.5 kg.

Changing food habits has been tough. Until 2022, the country had one Michelin star restaurant that was vegan – it shut down within a year. One way in which the Paris Olympics has tried to tackle this issue is by finalising a menu based on four geographical regions (France, Asia, African-Caribbean, World), with 40 different meals on offer every day.

Some of those meal options are ‘Veggie Bourguignon’, ‘Cauliflower and baked potato with turmeric’ (a possible French variant of the humble Aloo gobhi), ‘Bell pepper, onion, tomato and pepper stir fry’ and ‘Veggie Moussaka’.

At La Concorde, where the 3×3 Basketball, Breaking, BMX Freestyle and Skateboarding events are set to take place, all food provided will be vegetarian. “We wanted to focus on vegetarian options,” said Philipp Würz, who is responsible for food & beverages at Paris 2024. “60 percent of the recipes for the general public will be vegetarian. We are convinced that with these Games, we have a unique opportunity to do things differently and show that another model is possible.”

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