No moaning from the French as London unveil 2012 catering policy

IN the build-up to the vote for the host city of the 2012 Olympics, French president Jacques Chirac was attending a summit with the leaders of Russia and Germany in Kaliningrad.

GOLD MEDAL/GOLDEN ARCHES: London 2012 unveil their food vision - but what about official restaurant McDonalds, pictured opening their store at the Beijing Olympic Village last year

Looking ahead to the five-star fare they would be served at the G8 summit in Scotland a few weeks later, Chirac was in a playful mood and conforming to every stereotype.

"One cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad," he said.

"The only thing they have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow disease. After Finland, it is the country with the worst food."

A few weeks later and through gritted-teeth, Chirac was congratulating Tony Blair on London's Olympic success, which came at the expense of hot favourites Paris.

The British leader privately couldn't contain his glee but stopped short of serving his guest liberal double helpings of humble pie.

Fast forward more than four years and London 2012 officials today unveiled their ‘food vision' - in what they claim will be the largest peace-time catering operation ever.

They expect 14 million meals to be served across 40 venues during the Olympics and Paralympics and have set stiff targets to ensure ingredients are local, seasonal or ethically sourced.

Among other stats, they estimate over 200 tonnes of potatoes will be consumed, washed down with 75,000 litres of milk.

The Olympic Village will cater for the healthy living demands of the world's fittest men and women - although it's not all carbs and salads.

Constantinos Tsigkas was the Michelin-star chef with the job of feeding the hungry legions in the Olympic Village during the 2004 Games in Athens.

With a squad of 1,000 cooks from 23 nations he churned out top nosh to cater for tastebuds of athletes from around the world.

But he was less than impressed by the brisk trade over at the temporary outlet of official Olympic restaurant McDonalds - where athletes can scoff free Big Macs to their hearts content.

"Athletes eat like pigs!" he told me.

"In Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney, the most widely consumed food was sweets and ice-creams." 

Maybe that is what London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton meant when he said today: "Over the next year we will work with our partners and the catering industry to deliver a solution that works in 2012 itself and for years to come."