Eating contests: fun, folksy ritual or waste of food? This article from Singapore raised that question and forced me to revisit the topic I’d previously considered.
Sorry to play the wet blanket here, especially in the summertime, but I’m gonna say it: eating contests seem silly. Dare I say…gluttonous.
Now this may just be that seeing the pie eating contest barf-o-rama in Stand By Me as a youngster scarred me (warning: clip contains lots of blueberry-pie-induced vomiting).
And watching Cool Hand Luke back up his assertion that he can eat 50 eggs in an hour hasn’t helped (but it has sparked many imitations, from MTV’s Jackass to the Michigan Ultimate team’s annual contest). As an aside, here’s a physiological look at the likelihood of Luke’s success.
Yet, something like the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest just doesn’t sit well with me. Watching the two finalists eat 59 hot dogs each in 10 minutes, then five more in an “eat-off” just seems wrong.
It’s impressive in a disgusting kind of way that these two fellas can eat that much. But I’m just not sure why they do it and why we care enough that it’s on national TV. I guess it’s the same reason Jackass was so popular.
What’s your take on the topic?
6 Comments
And there’s this new show on the G4 channel called “Hurl” where contestants eat way too much of one particular food and then do activities like get spun on a playground tilt-a-whirl. The last person to vomit wins.
Sounds lovely huh?
Watching those things always makes me feel kind of nauseated. While it’s sort of wasteful, it’s not like people eat 59 hot dogs a minute all the time. And so it’s hardly the biggest food-wasting issue we have in America, you know?
food eating contest has never really held any charm for me whatsoever. why would you want to watch people gorge themselves on food- that isn’t even that good or healthy for you? i guess its a deer in headlights kind of thing, but it is pretty mindless to continue holding these kinds of contest since there is a global food crises at hand.
I’m of similar mind to @Kristen. I think the eating contests are rather silly, but then I look at the waste a regular restaurant goes through in an evening, and the difference is significant. YMMV, of course!
The Third World faces starvation
Kenya: 2.5m people
Somalia: 2m
Ethiopia: 1m
Djibouti: 150,000
while the Western World holds eating contests… polite words fail me…
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4587584.stm
This is America for you. other Countries starve while America hols eating contests. To the “The Frugal Girl” You should know better…and 59 hot dogs not being much? Ummm that is for one contestant, out of what? Like 6 or something? How many total were wasted? Just ’cause it’s not the biggest waste of food, doesn’t mean it’s right. Those hotdogs, etc, could go to feed the homeless in the city instead.