EatFeats » Eating and Society

The “eating power” of native British Columbians

ojrifkin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:40:55 +0000

There might have been some historical basis to have competitive eating as a demonstration sport in the Vancouver Olympics. TheTyee.ca has an article from 2004 about the “tsatlsqulalitut” or eating power of the Salish tribe of coastal British Columbia and Washington State:

Powers played an important role in Coast Salish culture. There were many kinds, including, but not limited to, the powers of a shaman, and any adult ought to have one or more. A person with eating power ate normally most of the time. But when challenged or challenging, the same person would eat vast quantities of food without showing the slightest sign of discomfort.

The article retells a story of an old man who ate two sides of beef and washed it down with a barrel of water.

Competitive eating called “male food porn”

ojrifkin — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:31:43 +0000

Double XX has a column about Man vs. Food which describes the program as male food porn:

As cultural taboos against ungoverned appetites intensify, porn inevitably follows. And thus we have the phenomenon of expert gluttony. One manifestation of this phenomenon is the professional eating contests that take place under the banner of organizations like the International Federation of Competitive Eating and the Association of Independent Competitive Eaters. Another is that brand of television that showcases promiscuous mastication, with Man vs. Food being the current darling of that genre.

New York Magazine’s Grub Street blog has a response to the column which attributes the popularity of competitive eating to the “distaster factor”.

Competitive Eating suggested as fantasy sport

ojrifkin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:50:12 +0000

Mental Floss has a list of 8 possible fields for fantasy leagues which lists competitive eating at #8. The list uses a picture of “Humble” Bob Shoudt by Liz Kellermeyer, but does not mention her 2007 fantasy competitive eating league. (The author was “Humble” Bob’s seatmate on a 2006 flight.)

Obama’s Indonesian teacher reports he won an eating contest

ojrifkin — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:07:36 +0000

The Electric New Paper of Singapore has an interview with Mr. Effendi (no first name listed), who taught Barack Obama when he lived in Indonesia, which begins:

GENDUT loved his keropok. He even won a keropok eating contest.

Gendut or ‘chubby’ is now known all over the world as US president Barack Obama.

His former teacher, Mr Effendi S P D, 64, told The New Paper at his house in Jakarta that Mr Obama was the biggest boy in his class. Mr Obama lived in Indonesia with his mother Ann Dunham and step-father Lolo Soetoro from 1967 to 1971.

Keropok are deep fried crackers made from prawns and starch.

Competitive eating not a candidate for 2016 Olympics

ojrifkin — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:08:48 +0000

Seven sports (baseball, softball, golf, karate, roller sports, rugby and squash) made their case to be included in the 2016 Olympics. Competitive eating was not among them. Chicago and Tokyo are considered the leading candidates to land the games.

London Telegram on gluttony

ojrifkin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:30:10 +0000

The Telegram of London has a column about gluttony illustrated with a picture of Takeru Kobayashi at the 2003 Nathan’s finals which lists the six types of sinful eating according to St. Thomas Aquinas. The column also reports that the Body Mass Index was developed in the 1840s by the Belgian mathematician Adolphe Quételet and that in 1806, a 728 pound man, Daniel Lambert, charged a schilling to visitors who wanted to chat with him. (Lambert died three years later.)

Spanish food fight to waste 165 tons of tomatoes

ojrifkin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:32:06 +0000

The German magazine Der Spiegel has an English article and gallery about La Tomatina, a annual tomato fight that will be held in Buñol, Spain tomorrow. During the event, 150,000 kg (330,000 lb.) of tomatoes are ruined. Despite wasting orders of magnitude more food than any American eating contest, the event does not seem to have drawn the same amount of criticism that competitive eating does.

Link Buffet: August 20, 2008

ojrifkin — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:17:11 +0000

Juliet Lee has an Ash Creek rib contest report
Clam eating contest in Seattle Saturday, first prize is $100
Ryan Nerz podcast interview in Conversations on the Road
Furious Pete is doing marketing research on a Furious Pete hat
A Washington Post article on the rise of college Food Studies programs reports that “Horsemen of the Esophagus” is required reading one course.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Japanese convenience store chain Lawson announced an annual increase in same store sales of 13%. Gal Sone endorsed a line of meals for Lawson in May.

Link Buffet: May 9, 2008

ojrifkin — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:52:34 +0000

York (PA) Revolution to offer all you can eat seats where you can enjoy the company of former Baltimore Orioles
Japanese commercial featuring a ramen eating contest
Pat Bertoletti posts a picture of a hot dog training session (see above) to a yardbarker comment (The Waffle House belt is to remind Pat that Joey can be beat)
Kansas State Games to have a hot dog eating contest July 18
UK hot dog eating contest May 23
Twins closer Joe Nathan to appear (but not compete) at tomorrow’s Nathan’s qualifier
Today is Cookie Jarvis’ birthday according to a comment
Furious Pete has posted an article about the Collegiate Nationals to bodybuilding.com
China and the Philippines ban conversion of rice paddies to golf courses (via Freakonomics)
Chicago Nathan’s qualifier next weekend to take place in Matteson

NPR on hot dogs and Japanese culture

ojrifkin — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:09:14 +0000

NPR has an article about the effect of American internment and occupation on Japanese and Japanese-American cuisine:

Shousei Hanayama, the priest at the Buddhist Temple in Watsonville, Calif., remembered that after the war, American soldiers in Okinawa brought hot dogs and introduced them into the island culture.

Hanayama noted that hot dogs are still a part of the Japanese culture, pointing to the story of Takeru Kobayashi, who can eat 63 hot dogs in under 12 minutes. The winner of six consecutive Nathan’s Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contests, Kobayashi revolutionized and popularized competitive eating with a technique called “Japanesing,” separating hot dog from bun as he crams to victory.