I, like many of you, have been at least casually watching the 2024 Paris Olympics. True to who I am, I couldn’t help but think about what’s going on behind the scenes – what does it take to launch a worldwide event like this?
As someone who spends a lot of time in the food supply chain – spending time learning and optimizing how food gets produced, transported, and sold to consumers – I wanted to dive deeper. How exactly did they pull this off, when most (temporary) sporting events are a logistical nightmare.
First, it’s important to give kudos where it’s deserved. The Paris Games are reportedly the most sustainable yet.
Most sustainable games to date
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The 13 million meals to be served at the Olympic and Paralympic Games will produce less than half the carbon emissions of the average French meal: 1kg compared to 2.3kg.
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The plant-based ingredients in these meals will be doubled, while 80 per cent of ingredients will be sourced from local agriculture, a quarter of them within 250km of the respective venues.
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There is a 50 per cent reduction in single use plastics compared to the London 2012 Olympics. The lifecycle of the meal from sourcing local ingredients, to reusable packaging, to reducing food waste is carefully thought out to use resources as efficiently as possible.
It can be easy to say, “let’s just do it the way we’ve always done.” But it is more rewarding to say, “how can we do better?”
 — Growcer){kind=link}