It’s understandable why everyone is freaking out over photos of Italian Olympic gymnast Giorgia Villa having been sponsored by Parmigiano Reggiano. Villa posted photos of herself eating Parmigiano Reggiano snacks and flipping over wheels of cheese back in 2022, as part of her work with the brand: How simple, how refreshing to see someone who just won a silver medal credit physical success to something I enjoy on pasta.
It feels especially gratifying as the “performance food” industry feels like it’s gotten out of hand. New products seem to appear every day insisting that you optimize some aspect of your existence, that you shouldn’t dare eat without considering your gains or brain fog or circadian rhythm. Everything has adaptogens, which, what even are those? I recently saw a bottled iced coffee that boasted 20 grams of protein, which is like if you blended chicken leg into your morning latte.
But Villa is not the only Olympian powered by the glory of cheese. Elle Purrier St. Pierre, who is competing in the women’s 1500m race for the U.S. on August 6, was sponsored by Cabot Cheese in 2021. The sponsorship included her posing with cows, eating cheese snacks, and grilling some burgers with cheddar.
St. Pierre and her husband are dairy farmers in Vermont, so it makes sense that she’d partner up with another local dairy; Cabot Creamery is a farmer-owned cooperative, which uses milk from its member farms to make its products. “My family’s farm has been working with Cabot for many years,” she said in a 2021 Instagram post. St. Pierre has also done ads for the Dairy Farmers of America, and can regularly be seen drinking milk.
Cheese does feel like a legitimately good post workout snack. An ounce of cheddar cheese has about 7 grams of protein, while Parmigiano Reggiano has 11 grams, and both probably taste a lot better than whatever chalky protein bars are at the checkout counter. Which is great news for me, as I frequently eat far more than one ounce of cheese while watching the Olympics. I’m pretty sure that’s the same thing as training.
