Archive: Food and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Sustain ran a five-year programme of work to win healthy and sustainable food standards for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Working with the organisers of the London 2012 Games, Sustain went on to coordinate the Food Legacy 2012 programme to improve event catering. Sustain also runs the Capital Growth campaign supporting community food growing in London; and also worked with marine conservation charities to build on the success of London 2012's adoption of a sustainable fish policy, to launch the Sustainable Fish City campaign.

These pages contain information from the period 2006 to summer 2012, and the process that led up to the publication of the London 2012 Food Vision standard, for the 14 million meals served at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Between July and September 2012, the UK was the focus of world attention. Approximately 4 billion people around the globe watched the London 2012 Games. More than 10,000 athletes participated; 8.6 million tickets were available for the Olympic Games; with another 1.5 million for the Paralympic Games. And hundreds of thousands of tourists traveled to the Games from outside the UK to see the Games and participate in the myriad of London 2012 sporting and cultural events.

A staggering total of 1.3 million meals were served to construction workers, with a further 14  million meals consumed by Olympic and Paralympic visitors (the public, athletes, staff, volunteers, dignitaries and journalists). From the very start, back in 2006, Sustain was keen to ensure that Olympic food promoted health and sustainability on a world stage, won new business for sustainable producers, and created a fabulous food legacy. We wanted London 2012 to showcase the very best of healthy, ethical and sustainable food and to communicate this to a local and global audience. These pages tell the story...