Energy News
FARM NEWS
France goes (a bit) veggie for Olympics
France goes (a bit) veggie for Olympics
By Olga NEDBAEVA
Paris (AFP) Sept 13, 2023

With France slowly weaning itself off its traditional obsession with meat, the top chefs in charge of feeding the sporting masses at the 2024 Olympic Games are emphasising a more vegetarian approach.

Michelin-starred chef Akrame Benallal serves plenty of steaks, burgers and other meat in his restaurants, but his flagship dish for the Games will be muesli with quinoa.

"When there are 40,000 meals per day, I don't want anyone to be let down. I want people who eat kosher to eat with me, people who eat halal, the Christians and Buddhists too," he said.

"It's vegetables that unite everyone," he added.

He is one of three award-winning chefs overseeing the French food for the 15,000 athletes of the Olympic Village next summer.

Another is Alexandre Mazzia, a former professional basketball player, who is offering recipes based around chickpeas, peas and smoked beetroot, and smoked fish with chard.

They are working with a big food group, Sodexo Live!, that is running the restaurants and has made it a key objective to reduce the carbon footprint of its menu and use less animal protein.

It claims that a third of the protein across its 500 dishes will come from vegetables, and one of its signature dishes will be a dal of green lentils from the Paris region with skyr (a type of yoghurt), coriander and corn oil.

French people on average consume 113 kilos of meat annually -- more than most European countries and almost double the global average -- according to Our World in Data.

But with the country committed to cutting its meat consumption for environmental reasons, the Olympics could mark a turning point, said food historian Loic Bienassis.

"Historically, there are no famous French dishes that don't include meat. To say 'Let's do some French cuisine but cut out the meat' is a major turnaround," he said.

- 'Can't impose on everyone' -

There will still be plenty of meat in the Olympic Village, of course.

The last of the three top French chefs is Amandine Chaignot, who has chosen guinea fowl with crayfish as her signature meal.

"Clearly, when we think of traditional French cuisine, we think more of 'steak au poivre' than quinoa risotto," she joked.

But vegetables alone cannot meet all the needs of the world's top sportspeople, said Helene Defrance, a medal-winning sailor and nutritionist who is on the athletes' commission for 2024.

"Vegetarianism is a big trend... but it's not something that we can impose on everyone," she told AFP.

Pulses can be hard to digest and not everyone converts plant proteins effectively, she said.

But as Mazzia points out, their food is more for celebrating after the competition than during the build-up.

"I'm interested in everything related to kilocalories and the like, but that's not what I'm here for," he said.

"The important thing during the Games is to stop and take a moment to enjoy something totally different. I hope the athletes come to celebrate their medal victories with me."

Related Links
Farming Today - Suppliers and Technology

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
FARM NEWS
Rice price spike offers preview of climate food disruption
Bangkok (AFP) Sept 12, 2023
A 15-year high in rice prices, prompted by top exporter India's restrictions on overseas sales, should be a wake-up call on how climate change can disrupt food supplies, experts say. Rice prices jumped 9.8 percent in August, bucking decreases in other staples, the Food and Agriculture Organization said last week. That followed the July decision by India, which accounts for 40 percent of global rice exports, to ban the overseas sale of non-basmati rice. The government cited soaring domestic p ... read more

FARM NEWS
Satellogic and SkyWatch increase access to timely earth observation data

SynMax announces acquisition of Gas Vista in energy and maritime intelligence push

Spire Global selected by Estuaire to monitor and reduce aviation emissions

Showcase your climate data visualisation talent with ESA

FARM NEWS
Galileo becomes faster for every user

Present and future of satellite navigation

New Galileo station goes on duty

Potential earthquake precursor discovered through GPS measurements

FARM NEWS
Two dead as police, illegal miners clash in Venezuelan Amazon

Heat, drought, fires threaten Lebanon's northern forests

Colombia deadliest country for green activists in 2022: report

Australia logging ban to create koala haven

FARM NEWS
Making aviation fuel from biomass

Chevron, partners develop a transportation fuel using animal waste as a feedstock

Illinois research leading to cleaner propane production method

Transforming flies into degradable plastics

FARM NEWS
Flexible solar cell achieves major power conversion efficiency gains

Solar panels go into service near North Pole

The tricky path to tripling renewable energy capacity

New insight for stabilizing halide perovskite via thiocyanate substitution

FARM NEWS
Work starts on key German wind power energy line

No offshore wind in latest UK green energy auction

UK eases effective ban on onshore wind in England

China, US lift wind turbine sales: study

FARM NEWS
Locals, NGOs accuse World Bank of backing Indonesia coal plant expansion

Indonesia halves output at coal power plant as pollution spikes

Australia plan to close largest coal power station in doubt

G20 per capita coal emissions growing: research

FARM NEWS
High-level disappearances deepen China's political black hole

China weighs ban on clothing that 'hurts feelings' of nation

Lesbian couple win Hong Kong court victory in IVF case

US believes China defense chief under investigation by Beijing: report

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.