Pails and pails of fruit salad and buckets of buckets of chocolate milk are among the favourites for the 2007 Canada Winter Games athletes.

There is, however, plenty of variety.

For the last couple of weeks, since before the Games began, culinary students and their instructors from Yukon College and four community colleges down south have been going around the clock literally.

As one local volunteer put it, when communities host events like these Games, there are two fundamental aspects that will make or break them: food and transportation.

'It's the best food, by far, of any Games I have ever been to, including the Olympics, the summer Games, the Pan Am Games, the University Games. . . . .' says Whitehorse cross-country ski coach Alain Masson. 'It is the best, and the variety, it changes every day, with every meal.

'The entrÈes are amazing.'

When the students and instructors aren't on the floor serving during their eight-hour shifts, they're in the kitchen doing prep work for the next meal, or the next day.

The graveyard shift, says culinary co-ordinator Jean Batten, are the unsung heroes. They're the staff behind the scenes who barely get recognized but are equally as important to what many are calling a unanimous success.

Ditto for the dishwashing staff.

There are 3,000 black serving trays on deck that are in constant use and in need of constant cleaning, never mind the warehouse full of pots and pans the cooks are going through at a fair clip.

The cutlery is the only item on the tray that isn't recyclable or compostable.

Volunteers working behind what is normally the main desk for the Yukon College library sort paper cups and plates into compost waste, while drink containers are placed in the recyclng bins.

The Raven Recycling Society is picking up anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 drink containers a day from the athletes' village alone.

While the organization of the food service seems seamless, the food is still the star attraction.

From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., athletes come and go as they please through the food centre, whether it's for the regular breakfast, lunch or supper times, or to 'graze' among the numerous food stations fully staffed during the 12 hours.

There's a pasta station, a salad bar, a hot dog and hamburger station, or a pizza station supplied by Pizza Hut, a cereal and toast bar, a chili station and a stir fry station all staffed and fully stocked through the 12 hours.

Athletes can order up at the deli bar whatever sandwich they fancy, on white or brown, pastrami on rye, perhaps. Soups and bagels are available.

The fruit salad station is a particularly big hit.

Batten estimates the kitchen is dishing up more than 200 kilograms a day of fresh fruits to keep the station going.

The run on food has been a little greater than anticipated. Batten has had to augment supplies with a little shopping at local grocery stores though neither service nor the menu, which includes two entrÈes for every main meal, has faltered .

Staff place no limits on what the athletes, coaches and managers can eat.

It's not uncommon for seconds, thirds, and even fourths.

'I am so impressed,' Batten says of the cooking team of 65 or so. 'These guys have really stepped up to the plate, and the results are clear.

'To be part of something this big . . . probably for some of them, it will be a once-in-a-life experience.'

For instructor Randy Chalifoux of the Northwest Community College in Terrace, B.C., the Games are only the second time he's been part of a team serving so many diners day in and day out, having worked the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton.

'I think it's great for me because most professionals don't get to do it once in their career, and I get to do it twice.'

The wide variety of food, says Chalifoux, has made it easy to please the athletes.

'They can get everything from pizza to cordon bleu,' he says 'It is kind of a nice mix.'

Travis Voght is among the contingent of 11 students and one instructor from Northern Lights College in Dawson Creek, B.C.

The hardest part for Voght so far has been to keeping up with the volume the approximately 1,800 passing through the cafeteria every day, more than once a day.

The 18-year-old has worked at a variety of the 12-hour serving stations, and on Monday afternoon was helping prepare that evening's entrÈe.

'It's been really interesting just being able to experience the Games themselves, and being able to actually cook for the athletes.'

Masson says at athletic events of this calibre, next to a solid performance, food is among the top priorities for athletes.

'This time around, I think there was a lot of thought and care put behind the food because it shows, and it is really, really good.'