Melanie Olivier knows the importance of sports nutrition.

A former alpine skier for Quebec, Olivier completed a bachelor of nutrition and a master in sports nutrition at the University of Montreal.

She also comes from a restaurant owner's background.

'I was kind of born with food and I loved to ski,' she explains. 'So I guess I combined my two passions.'

While Olivier continued to ski competitively throughout university, attending events such as the University Games in Spain one year, she also began working as an internship supervisor in the nutrition course at U of M in late 1990s.

Following that, she 'dove right into sports nutrition' on her own, working with professional boxers.

'I would prepare all of their food, all the medical aspects. It was very interesting. I travelled a lot.'

It wasn't long after that Olivier also began working with professional hockey players in the summers, and now, she is a member of the Canadian Olympics Committee Performance Enhancement Team.

In 2003, Olivier opened up a sports nutrition company called ATP Nutrition, with is currently run by herself and three other women. The company is attached to the National Sports Centre in Montreal and works with numerous sports organizations throughout the country she is a nutritionist for Yukon weightlifters Jeane Lassen and Emily Quarton, who train in Montreal.

'We don't do planning or any form of training program,' she explains. 'It's just nutrition.'

Olivier says they would like to expand their business, but points out it's hard to find people who know both sports and nutrition.

Olivier was in Whitehorse earlier this month, as part of a forum put on by Sport Yukon. She ran a workshop on sports nutrition and also offered one-on-one consultations with sports groups in the territory, in anticipation of the 2007 Canada Winter Games.

Food choices for athletes during the Games are limited, not only for nutrition reasons but because they eat all their meals at the athletes' village cafeteria. Often, said Olivier, the food in the cafeteria depends on what the sponsors are able to offer.

It can be difficult, she says, pointing out the chefs have to be creative, even when it comes to athletes with special dietary needs. They can't be cooking the exact same meals every day.

Olivier found out just how tricky it can be, when she travelled to the 2006 Olympics in Torino as a consultant for Team Canada. She says it was shocking how unprepared they seemed to be in the food services area.

The plan was for her to travel to Italy ahead of the athletes and make sure everything was OK in the cafeteria.

'I was supposed to observe and work a little bit, but I worked a lot,' she smiles.

There were three athletes villages and she had to find out what was missing and what needed work in all of them.

'I was working with menus that didn't have nutritional values, so ... I went shopping for food on my own and got what was missing so the athletes could fix themselves what they needed.'

While the staff at the Torino cafeterias had good intentions and worked hard, she says, they didn't seem to understand the basic need for healthy food. And the language barrier also proved difficult at times.

She recalled running into the cafeteria after a men's hockey game was finished and yelling, 'Pasta! Make lots of pasta! There are big men coming in,' while making gestures with her arms so they got the message.

She expects the 2008 Olympics in Beijing will also provide a challenge, because the food products they use in China are often much different than athletes are used to in North America.

'That's why I've been put on the committee for Beijing. The concepts there are not the same as they are here.'

But athletes, coaches and mission staff, as well as parents, can breathe a little easier when it comes to the Canada Games. Nutritionists have looked over the menu, as it's a requirement. The guidelines are fairly strict.

It's especially important to have proper food in the dining area at the athletes' village because athletes aren't able to bring their own food into their dorms, for safety reasons. Olivier says it's the same rule at the Olympics. Organizers want to keep bugs or vermon away, and they are also cautious of possible food fights.

There are grazing stations set up at all of the venues as well, she points out.

'Usually, there's food everywhere.'

About 85,000 meals will be served over the two-week duration of the Games, most of them through the Yukon College cafeteria at what will become the athletes' village. The cultural contingent of the Games will eat at the Gadzoosdaa Student Residence in Riverdale.

The kitchen at the athletes' village will be operational 24 hours a day, with menus for allergies as well. In addition to two entrees at each meal served from steam trays, there will be food stations with other options, including: a pizza station, chili and spud station, hamburger and hot dog station, pasta station, soup station and toast station, as well as cereal and a salad bar with fresh fruit and yogourt.

Entrees will be either roasted, steamed or cooked. Nothing will be deep-fried.