In a story posted on May 2 in vegnews.com, writer Charlotte Pointing revealed that fans and participating athletes of the most important sporting event of the year would be offered a wide range of vegan and vegetarian food, while Paris makes the attempt to cut carbon emissions by half compared to previous Olympics, as the city hosts “the most sustainable iteration of the sporting event yet,” she writes.
Here are excerpts from the story:
“While (the Olympics) may be the greatest show, it is not always the greenest. In fact, the London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020 (which, for obvious reasons, actually took place in 2021) events emitted an average of around 3.9 million tons of carbon dioxide.
“But this July, the games are heading to Paris, and the event is shaping up to be one of the most sustainable Olympics yet. The French capital will even make a special effort to offer plenty of carbon-friendly vegan food. In fact, it has even pledged to cut emissions in half compared with previous games.
“One of the most important ways it has set about achieving this goal is by not going overboard on building new stadiums to host events. Instead, it is repurposing the city’s existing stadiums, including the Stade de France (built in 1998 to host the soccer World Cup). The committee is only building one new arena, in Saint-Denis, which will be entirely solar-powered.
“In a bid to sequester carbon, a whopping 200,000 new trees have been planted around the city for the event, and many rooftops around the Athletes’ Village have been purposely made insect- and bird-friendly. There will also be new cycle lanes, more pay-as-you-go bikes, and plenty of extra public transport laid on for the millions of fans set to descend on the city.
“On top of all of this, Paris is paying significant attention to the type of food it will offer to both fans and athletes throughout the event. The Paris 2024 Olympic committee is emphasizing ‘more local, more plant-based food’ for the games. It predicts it will serve around 13 million meals throughout the event to fans and athletes, and many will be animal-free, or at least vegetarian. In fact, it’s estimated that 60% of meals sold to fans in stadiums will be meat-free.”Read the full story here: https://vegnews.com/2024/5/paris-2024-olympics-vegetarian