Catering for the Olympics mostly vegetarian
France has pledged to halve the carbon emissions of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this summer, in part through a high proportion of climate-friendly, plant-based food.
The organisers are expecting around 13 million meals to be served at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Over 60 % of these meals are to be plant-based. With this implementation, among others, the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 are set to be among the most sustainable games of modern times.
Specifically, the organizers aim in their "Nutrition Vision" that "at least 50% of all meals are vegetarian and/or at least 50% of all animal proteins are replaced with plant-based proteins," for "volunteers and employees, suppliers, media, the families of athletes, and hospitality guests." For the spectators, at least 60% of the food offered in the catering facilities should be vegetarian.
This strategy for the Olympic Games could have been overturned by the government. The government had issued a decree that would have banned plant-based products from using "meat-related" terms. The decree, originally scheduled to come into force on first May, 2024, was suspended by the "Conseil d’Etat." The court expressed serious doubts about the decree's compliance with EU legislation.
"It would not have looked good for the country if the organizers of the Olympic Games had promoted the climatic benefits of a plant-based diet in the lead-up to the Games, while the government on the other hand introduced legislation restricting the labeling of plant-based products," commented Jasmijn de Boo, Global CEO of the nutrition organization ProVeg International, regarding the suspension of the decree.
With the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% compared to the averages of London 2012 and Rio 2016, Paris 2024 has tackled the most comprehensive emissions category, including the indirect footprint of the Games, such as spectator travel. This means limiting emissions to 1.75 million tons of CO2, halving the emissions from the previous three Summer Olympic Games (Tokyo 2020, Rio 2016, London 2012), which averaged 3.5 million tons of CO2. Thus, Paris 2024 will be the first Olympic Games to align with the Paris Agreement on climate change, adopted in 2015.
"We are pleased that the organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics have recognized the importance of plant-based diets in reducing greenhouse gas emissions," added de Boo. "Plant-based diets emit only half the greenhouse gases of animal-based foods. That’s why it’s important for events in the global spotlight, like the Olympic Games, to lead by example and increase the availability of climate-friendly food," de Boo continued. In addition to increasing plant-based offerings, the Paris 2024 organizers will also refrain from serving alcoholic beverages. (stadiaworld, 24.04.2024)
