Clearly I am straying off the beaten blog track with the following, but bear with me. The reason I write about it is I'm surprised it hasn't been in the press already. Maybe it has but I can't locate anything at present.
Word reaches me that the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) is being given much food for thought by food standards lobbying group Compassion in World Farming.
Apparently when two weeks ago LOCOG published its Food Vision Paper for the 2012 Olympics aiming for the "best of British", it actually confirmed the Games will be serving athletes and visitors what the lobbyists claim is "the worst of British".
Apparently LOCOG has Red Tractor as the mandatory baseline standard for chickens and pigs served during the Games. The lobbyists say this means the animals could have been "farmed in conditions that do not meet their welfare needs".
It also alleges that the Paper has refused to commit to a target for the percentage of RSPCA Freedom Food meat to be served at the Games.
The group says this means that if the Olympics Food Vision becomes a reality, "we could see London 2012 serving food which lags way behind established good practice in many British supermarkets, not to mention the food served by many London boroughs, schools and public bodies".
Celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall agrees saying it is "inconceivable that we will be watching sports people at their peak of fitness, yet being served chicken by the Olympic Games catering service that not only has an arguably lower nutritional value, but has been produced in a system that causes lameness in over a quarter of the birds. I believe that the 2012 Olympics has a role to play in showing leadership and responsibility in this issue."
Compassion in World Farming Patron and Chicken Out! supporter Joanna Lumley OBE adds: "Why would the Olympic organisers not go for the best of the best? What a massive disappointment it will be for our country not to show itself in its best colours with the world's eyes upon us."
The group is calling for people to email the chief executive of LOCOG via this link to ask that RSPCA Freedom Food Standards play a leading role in the Olympics Food Vision.
Thanks for sharing, Paul, even if it was off piste.