France has long held a reputation for having one of the finest cuisines in the world, but for vegetarians, choice has often been severely limited. So when France made the decision to serve 60% plant-based meals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, it was clear that it was a move not welcomed by all.
“People were definitely surprised when we first proposed a 60% plant-based menu,” says Philipp Würz, head of food and beverages for the Games. “France lags behind other European countries in terms of the amount of vegetarian food consumed by the public. However, Paris being the catering capital of the world, when a food trend becomes popular elsewhere, it takes off here too.”
As Food & Wine reports, the Olympics planning committee had a goal to cut carbon emissions by 50% and “that meant not having two kilos of CO2 emissions per meal,” says Würz. “This can partly be achieved by reducing the food miles, but it also meant reducing [specifically red] meat.”
And 80% of the food served at the Games, to athletes and spectators alike, will come from within France — with the other 20% largely to allow for athletes’ requests. To keep food miles low, the menus will vary according to venue. In Marseille, for example, produce will largely come from Provence. At La Concorde, Paris — the venue hosting BMX, breakdancing, and skateboarding — the entire 15-dish menu will be plant-based.
“It felt appropriate to trial this at a venue showcasing pioneering Olympic sports,” says Würz. “We want to act as a role model. If the largest sporting event on the planet can commit to serving 60% plant-based food, any event can.”
Is the Games indicative of a wider shift in France to finally embrace plant-based cuisine? The only vegan restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star, Ona in Arès, closed just a year after receiving the star, and there’s currently only one Michelin-starred vegetarian restaurant in the entire country.
Gault & Millau, an international restaurant guide launched in Paris in 1972 by two journalists-cum-food critics, is often seen as the “alternative” Michelin guide. Rather than stars, they award “toques” and points. Any restaurant scoring more than 10/20 is listed in their guide, which currently includes 95 restaurants in France with exclusively vegetarian or vegan menus.
“Twenty years ago, when I first became vegetarian, it was tougher in France,” says Stéphane Brehier, Gault & Millau magazine’s editor-in-chief. “Now you no longer feel as though you’re being punished for being vegetarian by being served a bowl of purée and three vegetables.”
When the Gault & Millau team discovers talent, they’ll sponsor the chef, giving rise to innovative projects outside the capital. Monique is one such project, run by a young chef named Julien Caligo in the Gard, where he grew up.
“We don’t have so much a desire to promote plant-based cuisine as to promote young talent,” says Brehier. “But when you showcase young, up-and-coming chefs, this often goes hand-in-hand with vegetarian or fusion cuisine.”
So far, 500-odd recipes have been planned for the Olympics, but Würz can’t help having a favorite, and unsurprisingly, it’s plant-based. “I used to live in Berlin, and street vendor falafel is huge there,” he says. “It feels nostalgic to be able to serve this at the Olympics.”
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