FOOD FIT FOR AN OLYMPIAN
CANADA OLYMPIC PARK CAFETERIA ALTERS MENU TO SERVE ATHLETES
On the ski hill at Canada Olympic Park, corn dogs, burgers and fries are the meals of choice for those slipping down the slopes.
Inside WinSport’s Markin MacPhail Centre, athletes need a different kind of food to fuel them.
A few months ago, their options in the facility’s cafeteria were limited to carb-heavy bread sandwiches slathered with gloppy mayonnaise and filled with processed meat, a salad bar stocked with mayo-laden potato salad and energy drinks. Now, a shift in the food and bever- age program is answering the dietary needs of those training to represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi — and other sports — while having a ripple effect in what others are ordering to eat.
“We were used to tourism. Kids on the ski hill want corn dogs,” says Jason McKay, the director of food and beverage sales for WinSport Canada. “We needed to switch that mentality so we have options for healthier dishes.”
The trigger for the switch came in the form of a medal-winning former Olympian.
Helen Upperton was at the facility in the fall and found herself looking for something to eat after forgetting to bring lunch. Sandwiches with piles of high-fat condiments weren’t what she was looking for. She knew it wasn’t what other athletes needed either.
“The facility’s goal is to create world and Olympic athletes,” she says. “The food needed to reflect that desire. We’re a high-class performance facility, so we need high-class performance food.”
Since athletes can train, work out, meet with nutritionists and see a physiotherapist all in the one place — especially with the opening of the new Performance Training Centre — they also need to be able to find dishes that can power them through their day in the same place, she says.
She pulled McKay aside and said they needed to have a chat.
“Within 48 hours, the menu had changed,” she says.
McKay set up a meeting between executive chefs Wanda Ly and Ronnie Gillman and Upperton so she could give the chefs an athlete’s perspective on what they need from their food.
“What athletes need depends on the time of the year and where they are in their training. It also depends on their sport. But it boils down to whole foods, not sugar and condiments,” says Upperton.
Following that discussion, the chefs came up with a menu of wrap sandwiches, known as Athlete Wraps, then expanded into grainy salads with house-made dressings and protein power balls made from peanut butter, cocoa, seeds and dried fruit. As the program continues to grow, Ly and Gillman are working with the athletes to see what else they are looking for. Ly is currently recipe testing a recovery drink for postworkout fuel.
The wraps are stuffed with lean proteins and lots of fresh vegetables, then flavoured with mustards, guacamole or hummus — in numerous variations. Healthier greens like kale, arugula and spinach are also used in dishes.
Each day the centre’s Garden Cafe offers four athlete wrap sandwiches, as well as five composed salads in the salad bar that use such ingredients as quinoa and other ancient grains, marinated raw vegetables, kale and chickpeas. There’s always a fruit salad as well.
Ly says they’ve had to learn a new way of cooking as a result of this shift and have been tapping the expertise of nutritionists and dietitians, while also doing a lot of research into ingredients, like hemp and chia seeds, to see how they can be used and what nutritional properties they bring to the table.
“Every week we have a few new tricks in the bag,” she says.
The feedback starting to come back from athletes is positive.
“They didn’t just make it healthy; they made it healthy and delicious,” says Upperton.
But the program is also having a ripple effect on others dining at the MacPhail Centre.
Even the catering menu has changed and the general public using the facility is snapping up the athlete wraps and protein balls, choosing composed salads or making their own from the salad bar. “Sales have gone up,” says Ly. Upperton sees the changes to the food program as beneficial to anyone coming to the centre.
During events like the world cup, skiers come into the cafeteria and sit down in their international uniforms to eat wraps and salads among the hockey moms and their children.
“It starts with the athletes. Kids see that,” says Gillman.
“It teaches kids and encourages the public to eat better,” adds Upperton.
Over at the ski hill, burgers continue to rein in popularity and fruit smoothies are eschewed, but that food is no longer available at all in the MacPhail centre, says McKay.
“We’re a completely different venue than elsewhere. You come in here and see (Olympic bobsledder) Kaillie Humphries training. Our food reflects that.”