U.S. Olympic team will bring own food to Beijing games

I'm really not sure what to make of this . . .

The U.S Olympic Committee plans to bring its own food to Beijing for this summer's Olympics.

Wary of food quality in China following recent incidents of tainted products and reports of the heavy use of drugs and insecticides in food production, the USOC is planning to transport tons of meats and other foods to a training camp at Beijing Normal University.

The move has irked the head of food services for the Summer Games.

U.S. To Bring Own Food To Beijing Games

China "regrets" U.S. decision on food supplies

On some levels, this seems make sense but it also smacks of 'ugly Americanism.' Of course, olympic athletes are not exactly tourists and they do have far more at stake than recreational travelers. Again, I'm not sure what to make of it. Is the U.S. team just being sensible or are they paranoid?

=R=

I think at least part of the issue is that some people who work for the USOC went to China to check out the food, and found some that had been treated with so many steroids that athletes who ate them probably would have failed drug tests (under anti-doping rules you're responsible for whatever goes into your body, knowingly or unknowingly). I read a story about a month ago (can't remember where, maybe ESPN) talking about how someone from the Olympic Committee went to a market and found chicken breasts that were so large they could feed something like 8 people.

I've also read that athletes are more than encouraged to go out and sample the local food after they have finished competing.

jesteinf wrote:I think at least part of the issue is that some people who work for the USOC went to China to check out the food, and found some that had been treated with so many steroids that athletes who ate them probably would have failed drug tests (under anti-doping rules you're responsible for whatever goes into your body, knowingly or unknowingly). I read a story about a month ago (can't remember where, maybe ESPN) talking about how someone from the Olympic Committee went to a market and found chicken breasts that were so large they could feed something like 8 people.

I've also read that athletes are more than encouraged to go out and sample the local food after they have finished competing.

Perhaps true, but I'd love to see some sources on this... my BS sensor is going off pretty strongly. Let's just say that when comparing chickens I've seen in China to chickens I've seen in the States, the Chinese chickens aren't the ones that look like Barry Bonds.

Not to gloss over serious issues, but I think the Chinese food problems have been sensationalized to death. We can produce record-breaking ground beef recalls right here in the States, thanks. I realize it's competely anecdotal and meaningless, but collectively I've spent more than half a year of my life in China. Times I've been poisoned in the States: 3. Times I've been poisoned in China: 0.

Found it, from the NY Times:

When a caterer working for the United States Olympic Committee went to a supermarket in China last year, he encountered a piece of chicken — half of a breast — that measured 14 inches. “Enough to feed a family of eight,” said Frank Puleo, a caterer from Staten Island who has traveled to China to handle food-related issues. “We had it tested and it was so full of steroids that we never could have given it to athletes. They all would have tested positive.”

Full article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/sports/othersports/09olympics.html

jesteinf wrote:Found it, from the NY Times:

When a caterer working for the United States Olympic Committee went to a supermarket in China last year, he encountered a piece of chicken — half of a breast — that measured 14 inches. “Enough to feed a family of eight,” said Frank Puleo, a caterer from Staten Island who has traveled to China to handle food-related issues. “We had it tested and it was so full of steroids that we never could have given it to athletes. They all would have tested positive.”

Full article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/sports/othersports/09olympics.html

NY Times wrote:And the men’s weight lifting team was served barbecued guinea pig before a competition in Peru.

The horror!!!

It's a painful read. I understand the importance of fuel to athletes. But the tone just smacks of bringing civilization to the heathens.

Thanks. Though I'm still leery.

I realize we've had tons of media criticism around here lately, and your post doesn't seem to seek more, but...

The only quotes made by actual US Olympic Committee members have to do with protecting atheletes from testing positive for banned drugs. The Times goes on to make what seem to me irresponsible allusions to the notion that the Committee also has food safety concerns. In reality, these allusions just seem like the Times' attempts to write a headline that will sell papers. I cannot find any evidence whatsoever in that article or elsewhere that the USOC is taking this action because they're worried about food safety in China. If there is "ugly Americanism" here at all, I think the culprit is our press in this case, and not any official American organization.

NY Times wrote:In the past two years, the U.S.O.C. has tried to figure out how to avoid such dangers at the Olympics. It has made arrangements with sponsors like Kellogg’s and Tyson Foods, which will ship 25,000 pounds of lean protein to China about two months before the opening ceremony, but will hire local vendors and importers to secure other foods and cooking equipment at the Games.

Wait - it's looking to Tyson and Kellogg's to provide healthy food? Will they be serving Pop Tarts and Cocoa Krispies for breakfast? Not exactly healthy or protein-laden, in my book.

Just as an FYI- this is not terribly uncommon, though the reasons are being sensationalized. Very often professional athletes eat very specialized diets that require constant monitoring- I know the runners stick to some very odd diet. Often times coaches just want to make sure that nothing about the diet of their athletes ever changes so they can be in peak form.

jpschust wrote:Just as an FYI- this is not terribly uncommon, though the reasons are being sensationalized. Very often professional athletes eat very specialized diets that require constant monitoring- I know the runners stick to some very odd diet. Often times coaches just want to make sure that nothing about the diet of their athletes ever changes so they can be in peak form.

I agree. There's no story here, other than the Times continuing its move toward National Enquirer type journalism.

Kennyz wrote:

jpschust wrote:Just as an FYI- this is not terribly uncommon, though the reasons are being sensationalized. Very often professional athletes eat very specialized diets that require constant monitoring- I know the runners stick to some very odd diet. Often times coaches just want to make sure that nothing about the diet of their athletes ever changes so they can be in peak form.

I agree. There's no story here, other than the Times continuing its move toward National Enquirer type journalism.

I stopped reading anything about China in the NYT a while ago. I got fed up with the alarmism. However, food for optimizing athletic performance and the portability of food for athletes are topics that interest me a lot. The shipment of 25,000 pounds of meat to China is newsworthy because I think it is unusual (OK, ridiculous...). Yes, athletes of Olympic caliber can follow very strict diets, but I also know that international sport has a long and I think glorious history of sourcing food locally. A team might transport specific items like the bars, drinks and gels that athletes--particularly in endurance sports--consume to quickly replenish glycogen stores (in case their preferred brands or formulas are not available in the country in which they're competing), but the ingredients of even pre-planned meals are--to my knowledge--usually acquired from local sources. Athletic teams can't be bothered with transporting large quantities of food; it's easier to transport a team chef and/or nutritionist.

I know its lost a lot of its credibility, but the Tour de France is very interesting to think about in terms of food. The average caloric intake of cyclists in the peloton is 4,000 to 8,000 daily. I've long thought that it would be really neat to ride in the Tour de France--sure, oh, to climb the Pyrenees on a bike...to be a woman in a peloton of the most elite cyclists in the world...blah, blah, blah... But what I really fantasize about are the musettes, or goodie bags, that riders get at feeding stations. These bags contain the standard energy gels and such, but inside are often French sandwiches and pastries. How lovely that would be! I guess it probably wouldn't be fun to eat those treats on a saddle at 30kph, but I think the cyclists get to eat some nice things. I've read about cyclists being given wonderful foods very specific to towns or regions on the race route. One of the most interesting examples I read was that TdF cyclists were fed Bonnottes, the potatoes special to the peninsula of Ile Noirmoutier, when the Tour started there in 2005. Then again, I guess it doesn't matter what TdF cyclists are eating since they're all testing positive for dope anyway...

Kennyz wrote:If there is "ugly Americanism" here at all, I think the culprit is our press in this case, and not any official American organization.

I'm pretty much with Kenny, here - it is after all competition whose history is riddled with all kinds of underhanded tactics. While this isn't the Chinese's fault, if I had one shot at an Olympic medal, I'd want to know exactly what I'm putting into my mouth and food that came from people who had my best interests at heart (unfortunately, it's hard to tell who those people are.)

The real question is did we bring our own food to every other Olympics. If not, I'd fall in with Dom. I mean, if they can test an obvious frankenbreast for steriods, they can test the rest of them until they find a safe supplier.

British team has no concern about food for Olympic athletes in Beijing

happy_stomach wrote:I stopped reading anything about China in the NYT a while ago. I got fed up with the alarmism. However, food for optimizing athletic performance and the portability of food for athletes are topics that interest me a lot...
The shipment of 25,000 pounds of meat to China is newsworthy because I think it is unusual (OK, ridiculous...).

I agree that this is a worthy story, I just think that the way it was reported in the Times was completely irresponsible. They cited evidence that Chinese meat contains steroids, and had real quotes from people concerned about athletes testing positive. I'm fine with that. To me, the irresponsible sensationalism comes in the form of mere allusions - not evidence - that there are also food safety concerns. There's not a single quote cited about this, and not a single piece of real evidence offered.

This quote from the article that bothered me most:

In preparing to take a delegation of more than 600 athletes to the Summer Games in Beijing this year, the U.S.O.C. faces food issues beyond steroid-laced chicken. In recent years, some foods in China have been found to be tainted with insecticides and illegal veterinary drugs, and the standards applied to meat there are lower than those in the United States, raising fears of food-borne illnesses.

There is absolutely no evidence offered in the article that anyone in the USOP had concerns about food-borne illnesses or anything else beyond positive tests for banned substances. The Times just decided to throw that in, and imo - for lack of a better word - that sucks.

"We have absolutely no concerns about the quality and safety of the food in the Athletes Village," Seibel said. "Also, we will be sourcing products from local suppliers for our training table, in addition to bringing some products with us. We had the same approach during the Athens and Torino Games, as well."-USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel from ESPN article

I just glanced upon this thread and had to take a look and now I have to post my two cents. I didnt get a chance to read everyones thoughts on this but for those of you who think this is "ugly Americanism" I cant help but laugh. I know this is a food website and we all love food and sample anything we can get in our mouths but you dont really expect athletes who have spent the better part of their lives training for this summer are going to just throw anything in their body thats put in front of them, do you?

C'mon athletes competing for Olympic gold are not going to China to sample local cuisine and most if not all aren't thinking Ill have to get around the city and see where to get the best dumplings. I suppose you want an American athlete to risk everything they worked for and eat food that could result in a failed drug test? you dont know whats in the food one search of "china food contamination" on google yields thousands of articles Im not even going to go into the fact that maybe they dont want something as simple as an upset stomach or food that makes you weaker and isnt good for the system.

I dont know much about this whole case but I do know that if this is what the Americans are going to do, that the committee put some thought into it as well as the athletes and if this is what they want than they should do it, again easy to say its not right when your reading about it on a food forum but the athletes and trainers and everyone else close to this summers games didnt work as hard as they have to risk something so easy to avoid.

I'm a realist on this issue also. China has every incentive to make sure the foods that make it to the Olympic training tables are better-inspected than what allegedly slips past the food police and onto container ships. However, I also don't blame US athletes in the time of Clemens and Bonds (and the rampant chemistry of the T d F) from taking as much personal control of their fate as possible.

As for ugly Americanism, I don't think the athletes (many of them children leading highly structured lives as it is) will even have the chance to turn up their noses at dumplings in favor of KFC until after they have competed. Otherwise, its all foodservice. Please don't consider me a xenophobe if, at my next conference or convention, I don't linger at the Marriott lunch buffet.

Last, and this is no flame, let me offer my own stale experience as a former athlete who competed at times against guys from China and Japan -- they tended to bring their own food to the extent they could, and they sought out restaurants serving the foods of their respective countries where available.

Personal observation leads me to think that businesspeople and tourists from, for example, China and Japan, do likewise. It's cultural, and I have no problem with it. I can't fathom an Italian or Frenchman even considering their own nation's cuisine here (they seem to prefer Morton's or Mexican -- smart), but the sushi houses and Cantonese banquet halls of NY, LA and (to a much lesser extent, Chicago) appear to do well by catering to business people from those places.

PS, I do not think China and Japan are the same country with the same people and cultures. Those are just two like examples with which I am familiar, each having specific athletes (and, I guess, businessmen) who follow a path of dining cultural conservatism that has been discussed herein as an American phenomenon.

JB

Even without any worries about drugs or insecticide, eating strange food can upset your stomach, and while that may be fine when you're there on holiday, it would be tough if you had to say, go out and do a gymnastics routine with a bad case of "la tourista."

Plus, think of all the "official (whatever) of the Olympic team" advertisers who'd get left home!

Cynthia wrote:Plus, think of all the "official (whatever) of the Olympic team" advertisers who'd get left home!

I think Cynthia may have hit the nail on the head, here - considering they're not using mom-n-pop US suppliers.

Mhays wrote:

Cynthia wrote:Plus, think of all the "official (whatever) of the Olympic team" advertisers who'd get left home!

I think Cynthia may have hit the nail on the head, here - considering they're not using mom-n-pop US suppliers.

There are serious import rules when it come to bringing large quantities of food into China (and most other countries). Thousands of pounds of mom and pop meat would have a much harder time passing than would major name brand products.

Kennyz wrote:

Mhays wrote:

Cynthia wrote:Plus, think of all the "official (whatever) of the Olympic team" advertisers who'd get left home!

I think Cynthia may have hit the nail on the head, here - considering they're not using mom-n-pop US suppliers.

There are serious import rules when it come to bringing large quantities of food into China (and most other countries). Thousands of pounds of mom and pop meat would have a much harder time passing than would major name brand products.

Agreed. A "mom-and-pop" supplier would probably be your last choice for this type of an operation. Sometimes bigger really is better.