Olympic Games Nutrition in Atlanta 1996
The food supplied for the athletes at the Olympic Village needs to cater to a diversity of sports, cultures, ages and special dietary needs. Here is some information about the Olympic Village food menu for Atlanta in 1996. See more about Olympic Village nutrition and links to information about the food supplied at other Olympic Games.
1996 Atlanta, USA
The food service contractor for the Atlanta Olympics was ARAMARK Corporation. They developed 550 ethnically diverse recipes for the menu. A nutritional analysis of each recipe was provided in the three languages of the Olympics (French and English as the official Olympic languages, plus Spanish). Pictograms were also used at each food station to help athletes easily identify the foods that were being served.
In addition to the great selection of food available for the athletes in the Olympic Village, there was also a McDonald store, providing free Maccas to any athlete. That must have been a challenge for some athletes to avoid. There was some healthier food eaten too. There was an official dining hall - a 75,000 square-foot tent with a 3,500 seat capacity. Below is the list of the actual quantities of food and water served over 33 days.
For athletes who could not eat in the Dining Hall, special Olympic Lunch Boxes were provided, were transported to competition sites in refrigerated trucks. Approximately 50,000 box lunches were prepared.
- Water: 550,000 gallons
- Milk: 70,000 gallons
- Pasta: 52,000 pounds (dry weight)
- Rice: 34,000 pounds (dry weight)
- Beef/Lamb: 280,000 pounds
- Poultry: 150,000 pounds
- Cheese: 90,000 pounds
- Eggs: 576,000 fresh eggs
- Margarine: 32,800 pounds
- Butter: 30,000 pounds
- Rolls: 20,000 rolls
- Apples: 750,000 apples
- Peaches: 226,000 peaches
- Strawberries: 23,342 pints
- Tomatoes: 17,988 pounds
- Asparagus: 15,498 pounds
- Melons: 15,500 melons
- Bean Sprouts: 2,800 pounds
- Raisins: 800 pounds
- Lettuce: 9,300 heads
- Parsley: 10,827 bunches
Related Pages
- Olympic Village nutrition, includes links to info about the menu at other Olympic Games.
- Nutrition at the Olympics
- History of the Olympic Games Athlete Villages
- Nutrition for Athletes at Major Events
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Current Events