Geji McKinney-Banks, culinary professional and chef and former Director of Food Service Operations for the Minnesota Vikings, joins host Jim Narum on this week’s episode of Healthy Insights Podcast.
When Geji started with the Vikings in 1994, they were one of, if not the first, NFL teams to offer an on-site cafeteria to improve food, nutrition and performance for the players. Geji was with the team for 25 years and worked her way up over the years. She became a personal chef for some of the players and was also the first African American woman in the NFL to run food service operations for a team, as the Viking’s Director of Food Service Operations. Today, Geji is working on starting a nonprofit program, Culinary Artworks, for inner city youth, teaching nutrition and healthy eating.
Geji shared insight into what it was like working for a professional sports team. She discussed how approaches to nutrition evolved over the many years she worked for the team. She shared how the food and menu quality began to be more important and with the help of dieticians who joined the team, more of an emphasis was put on health and proper nutrition for the players. She also talked about the various systems they had in place to give players options, but to also caution them of what they should/shouldn’t be consuming for peak performance.
You’ll hear stories of Geji’s experiences such as, traveling to London to lead food services when the team played there, some nutrition trends that she saw shift during her time with the team, the Huddle for Health program for Salvation Army that she led, and her work now starting a new nonprofit program, Culinary Artworks.
You won’t want to miss this fun conversation! Listen in for a behind-the-scenes look at the food and nutrition that contributes to the peak performance you see by professional athletes.
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