Food for white winters – testing more sustainable meals at the FIS Alpine World Cup Åre

At the 2026 FIS Alpine World Cup in Åre, volunteers, conference guests, athletes, and partners will be part of testing how more resilient meals can support performance while reducing the negative environmental impact of food.

Swedish Olympic athletes, scientists, chefs, and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) are collaborating to explore how sustainable meals could help protect the future of winter sports. The learning from the project will inform future FIS sustainability guidelines for food.

The initiative responds to a critical global challenge: food production generates nearly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions are a threat to winters and snow, the foundation of all winter sports.

“Athletes and winter sports can lead the way towards delicious, resilient meals that inspire far beyond the ski slopes" says Centre director Line Gordon, co-author of the EAT-Lancet Commission: “We take a first small step this year and hope we can move further next time.”

A first step – new recipes

The first test meals of the project are presented during the FIS Alpine World Cup in Åre, from 13 to 15 March 2026 as part of Nordic Sustainability Arena. From three selected restaurants, athletes, coaches, conference guests, and volunteers will be served culinary meals designed to meet both high-performance nutritional needs while aiming to reduce environmental impact.

“At FIS, sustainability must translate into action. By testing how science-based food principles can be translated into meals during our World Cup events, we are turning ambition into practical solutions. Based also on the results, we aim to keep developing our dietary guidelines for all FIS events and gradually expand the 'Food for White Winters' approach across the entire FIS network and beyond,” says Susanna Sieff, FIS Sustainability Director.

The recipes are created by chefs in close collaboration with nutrition experts and leading researchers. The recipes mark a first step towards winter-friendly dishes suited to sports events, anchored in local culture, and the specific needs of athletes and staff. The food served in Åre is based on local ingredients including vegetables, dairy, and carefully elected meat, such as elk– reflecting the Nordic food culture and the mountain environment.

Menu examples include:

• Ribollita with sourdough bread
  Carrot, onion, celery, olive oil, white beans, chickpeas, Gotland lentils, tomatoes, white wine.
• Elk stew with potatoes
  Elk meat, Gotland lentils, onion, carrot, white cabbage, potatoes, crème fraîche, butter, cooking wine.

Scientific insights

Researchers will collect data and study the results during World Cup Åre 2026. This includes data on the environmental impact of the food served as well as the nutritional content of the meals provided. Researchers will also interview people involved in the event to understand both the challenges and the factors that have helped make progress possible. The results will be published in a report on the PLATE website later this year. Early results point out the following progress from the prior year:

• Food for the volunteers: a larger share of organic ingredients is being used. Meals now include less animal-based food and more vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, as well as more locally produced products. Early analysis indicates a 10% reduction in climate impact.
• Food for the athletes: portions now contain about 50 grams less meat than in previous guidelines, following recommendations agreed upon with FIS and a nutrition expert. This change corresponds to around a 20% lower climate impact..

A starting signal

The experiment from Åre will inform future FIS guidelines and adoption across sports, municipalities, schools, and the wider food ecosystem.

One important governing document for the event is the FIS recommendations for food served to the athletes. These set requirements of at least 200 grams of meat or fish per portion and meal.

In dialogue with FIS, meat portions for athletes during the World Cup in Åre 2026 have, in the majority of cases, been reduced to around 150 grams per person and meal, which lowers the climate impact of the meals by roughly 20 percent. To achieve a more significant reduction in the climate impact, the adjustments in this year’s menus are primarily focused on meals for volunteers and conference guests.

These initial changes will provide insights to inform efforts aimed at raising ambition levels in the coming years. Work to revise the FIS recommendations will begin in connection with the World Cup in Åre.

Food for white winters

Food for white winters is a collaboration between Stockholm Resilience Centre, SLU, Eldrimner, and local culinary innovators as part of the research programme PLATE. The project is anchored in the latest food science, reported in the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet and the PLATE Principles. However, the meals served this year are far from fully aligned with the Planetary Health Diet and the PLATE Principles.

The Åre World Cup 2026 can be seen as the first steps to build momentum for further developments during coming years.