Food frenzy

I can't say that I haven't gone for thirds or fourths before, maybe during the holidays or after a particularly long day. However, people like Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi are my heroes!

Competitive eating has been, according to I.F.O.C.E (The International Federation of Competitive Eating) "among the most diverse, dynamic and demanding sports in history." Tell me why these superstars aren't pulling in the millions of dollars that basketball or football players make every year?! It has always been a fascinating sport, consisting of all different kinds of challenges. It mostly only uses one food, such as hot dogs or pies. Usually the idea is to eat as much food as possible as quick as you can. However, competitions sometimes throw in twists, such as eating the pies with no hands, which ultimately results in the most barbaric fiend winning.

There are two organizations that regulate the sport and ensure the safety of the competitors. One, as mentioned above, I.F.O.C.E, and second AICE (Association of Independent Competitive Eaters). Both organizations focus on maintaining the safety of the competitors and the spectators while still creating environments that the media and the public can enjoy. However, one of the major differences between the two is the range of their competition coverage. AICE covers competitions held within just the United States, whereas IFOCE also coordinates with Japan, England, Germany, Canada, Ireland, Thailand and Ukraine.

The sport of competitive eating actually has quite the history. For example, Nathan's fourth of July hot dog eating contest, being one the the most well known, actually first took place in 1916. This competition has occurred almost every year since, only being canceled twice due to current events at the time. This single event is hailed as the international championship event to which some have even mentioned it to resemble the Olympics of competitive eating.

Another amazing contest that is held by GoldenPalace.net is a competition to break a world record. The rules are that the IFOCE competitors must attempt to eat more than 36.5 grilled cheese sandwiches within ten minutes. As big of a fan of the delicious and cheesy treat that is the grilled cheese sandwich, I might not be able to devour 37 of them in that amount of time. However, if I could accomplish this task it might be well worth my time because the prize is $100,000.

One of the other more well-known competitions would be the World Pizza Eating Competition held by the Bacci Pizzeria in Chicago, Illinois. While the rules are unclear, the prize is $2,500 and the title of World Pizza Eating Champion. However there are far less known competitions ranging from what might be considered normal, such as pie-eating contests, to the very strange competitions like World Asparagus Eating Championship. There also appears to be competitions for "Good garlicky greens," "Louisiana Downs World's Grit Eating," and "Spike TV's World Pig-Skin Eating." Most of which are sanctioned by the IFOCE. If interested in reading more on these competitions you can visit the Major League Eating web page for more information.

While not all of these events are greatly publicized, there are still many options to view some of these competitions. Spike TV has been known to show the larger competitions. Other TV channels such as the Food Channel and the Travel Channel have various programs that display all kinds of competitions. Shows like Man v. Food like I have mentioned in previous blogs, where the media covers smaller restaurants and the competitions they hold in order to get their name out into the public.

Grilled cheese eating!