Can you justify competitive eating?

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philialeaf

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Maybe I’m being melodramatic to put this under “social justice”, but with over a billion people suffering from hunger can you blame me? Is it more than a little silly or wasteful to have eating contests?
To me it represents a disordered view of food, which is a gift, and the body, which is a Temple of the Holy Spirit. It also seems a scandal on others when children are looking up to the people who win these competitions. I’ve heard kids brag about knowing how to “double up” on hot dogs to “trick your stomach”. How healthy can that be?
The champions are glorified and often interviewed as though they are athletes. I’m sure there are parallels that can be drawn regarding the training, challenges, etc. but athletes (ideally) should be more concerned with their health, and with people wanting to follow in their footsteps. Last night I heard a kid interviewed who said he would die happy if it was from eating a giant 30,000 calorie burger.
Not to start yet another “is this a sin?” thread–I’ve already heard of gluttony and pride, thanks! I’d just love to hear a Catholic find some way to try to defend this! (Other than by pointing out other terrible things people sometimes do to their bodies for the sake of sports, entertainment, etc.)
Any thoughts? 😃
 
I think it is an immoral and rather contemptible activity. Disgusting too. So you could call me a fence-sitter. 🙂
 
Thanks for replying. I agree with you, but I guess that shows in the previous post! 🙂
 
philialeaf said:
Maybe I’m being melodramatic to put this under “social justice”, but with over a billion people suffering from hunger can you blame me? Is it more than a little silly or wasteful to have eating contests?
To me it represents a disordered view of food, which is a gift, and the body, which is a Temple of the Holy Spirit
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I don’t think the “waste” is meaningful–taking the relatively small amount of food eaten in such contests and putting it to better use would do little to solve the problem of hunger.

But I agree that it reflects a horribly distorted view of the body, just as our culture’s obsession with sexual prowess does.

Edwin
 
I’m on your side, too - I think it’s stupid.

You could probably feed lunch to all of the homeless children in your city with the amount of hot dogs and pies that are consumed at these things. Not that those kids are necessarily starving, but they could probably do with a change from baloney sandwiches and canned peas, now and then.
 
are they eating food that would ordinarily feed others or go to the poor? are they taking food out of someone else’s mouth? personally my objection with such contests or more in line of encouraging personal gluttony and boorish behavior in general.
 
It’s something that has been done a long time, and something for fun. Yes news flash human being need fun once in a while. Whats to Billy is not always fun to Bob. With the scale it’s done on, if you to get rid of all eating contests toda, no difference would be made in feedig the poor and hungery. This poo pooing on fun is yet another reason why I’m begining in little steps to dstance myself from other Catholics. Next thing I’ll be told that skipping stone across a pond is a waste of energy. Sheesh! Lighten up people. Jesus Christ’s first merice was done in order to keep a celebration a party going.
 
Honestly, I couldn’t find an appropriate place for this discussion, such as entertainment or something like that. (The media forum is just media, but I suppose that might have worked, too!) I just ended up picking one. Social justice seemed extreme, but to me that is part of my problem with this kind of activity. No, I’m not suggesting that if we stopped having pie eating contests at county fairs we would solve world hunger. But to glorify this kind of waste, gluttony, abuse of one’s body, etc is not a good thing. And yes, that food could have gone to a local soup kitchen or shelter. I’m especially disgusted when I think of children and young people aspiring to be champions at these things. Ick!
For the poster who defended the “fun”–is that all you’ve got? I do agree that we need to lighten up, but this one is something I’m really having a hard time understanding. I get that we all enjoy different things. I don’t get how that can be an argument in favor of something that does harm to one’s health and sets a bad example for others. Just so you know, though, I’m not starting a coalition to ban these things or anything!
Thanks to everyone who replied. 😃
 
philialeaf said:
Honestly, I couldn’t find an appropriate place for this discussion, such as entertainment or something like that. (The media forum is just media, but I suppose that might have worked, too!) I just ended up picking one. Social justice seemed extreme, but to me that is part of my problem with this kind of activity. No, I’m not suggesting that if we stopped having pie eating contests at county fairs we would solve world hunger. But to glorify this kind of waste, gluttony, abuse of one’s body, etc is not a good thing. And yes, that food could have gone to a local soup kitchen or shelter. I’m especially disgusted when I think of children and young people aspiring to be champions at these things. Ick!
For the poster who defended the “fun”–is that all you’ve got? I do agree that we need to lighten up, but this one is something I’m really having a hard time understanding. I get that we all enjoy different things. I don’t get how that can be an argument in favor of something that does harm to one’s health and sets a bad example for others. Just so you know, though, I’m not starting a coalition to ban these things or anything!
Thanks to everyone who replied. 😃
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Well if we are going to ban what harms health, then ban football! Getting rid of these types of contests would be a drop in the bucket. I don’t waste my time with things that are a drop in the bucket. As far as a pie eating contest, I don’t try to understand it, I just do it if I like it. I once ate enough tiny burgers to get my name in a college town resuarnant hall of fame wall. You are over anylizing things use your mind for more profound things, don’t sweat the small stuff.
 
aspawloski4th said:
Well if we are going to ban what harms health, then ban football! Getting rid of these types of contests would be a drop in the bucket. I don’t waste my time with things that are a drop in the bucket. As far as a pie eating contest, I don’t try to understand it, I just do it if I like it. I once ate enough tiny burgers to get my name in a college town resuarnant hall of fame wall. You are over anylizing things use your mind for more profound things, don’t sweat the small stuff.
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Aw, c’mon! It can be fun to sweat the small stuff. 🙂 I just told you I’m NOT trying to ban them! I was also going to ask if there was anyone who had participated in these contests, to learn something from them! I didn’t mean to offend. I’d like to hear about what you did, if anything, to train for it. I guess the people who do this aren’t all obese but have ways to train their stomachs to be more elastic. I find it interesting. I just don’t think kids should be looking up to this kind of behavior.

What really bugs me about it is that there are people doing this “professionally” and there are young people trying to emulate them. I think if you’re in the public eye you do have some responsibility. And sure, we could pick any drop in the bucket to analyze. Like I’d said originally, I’m not trying to start another “is it a sin?” discussion. Really! We all have a conscience! We can figure things out!

I’m less interested in the contests at the fair and restaurants than in the scale this phenomenon has recently reached. I don’t want to kill your fun, really! I just don’t want you to be my kids’ hero, at least not for an eating contest! 🙂

Anyway, if I’m overanalyzing and wasting my mind sweating the small stuff what are you doing replying to my questions?
 
philialeaf said:
Aw, c’mon! It can be fun to sweat the small stuff. 🙂 I just told you I’m NOT trying to ban them! I was also going to ask if there was anyone who had participated in these contests, to learn something from them! I didn’t mean to offend. I’d like to hear about what you did, if anything, to train for it. I guess the people who do this aren’t all obese but have ways to train their stomachs to be more elastic. I find it interesting. I just don’t think kids should be looking up to this kind of behavior.

What really bugs me about it is that there are people doing this “professionally” and there are young people trying to emulate them. I think if you’re in the public eye you do have some responsibility. And sure, we could pick any drop in the bucket to analyze. Like I’d said originally, I’m not trying to start another “is it a sin?” discussion. Really! We all have a conscience! We can figure things out!

I’m less interested in the contests at the fair and restaurants than in the scale this phenomenon has recently reached. I don’t want to kill your fun, really! I just don’t want you to be my kids’ hero, at least not for an eating contest! 🙂

Anyway, if I’m overanalyzing and wasting my mind sweating the small stuff what are you doing replying to my questions?
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For my deal I had to eat 8 bitty burgers in an hours to get my name on the wall. I ate 12… What mamde me able to eat that much? It was one of those hungery days for me. My friend ate his 6 coney dogs to get him name on the wall also. Eating those burgers likely was good for me. All that protein kept my blood sugar from dropping for hours( I was hypoglycemic back then). Food is one are where I’m glad the USA broke a bit from it’s northern European roots. In much of the Northern European culture people fill up rather enjoy eating. I’mm glad we don’t have that type of survivalist attitude twards food anymore.
 
You can’t ban something simply because it is bad for your health. But you have to ask yourself what is the cost? If it is bad for your health and there is no real good that comes from it, I would think it could be deemed unacceptable or morally wrong.
 
jmcrae said:
Football is good exercise.
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But the hard hitting. I was throwing that our for comparison. I actually like football. When I played with my school buddies, I was always the team punter and what some might call a trickplay back. Quite frankly Im a bit tired of the over analising of things people have done for and long time for fun, and the trying to put a moral scale on everything. Anyway I never heard a Pope condemn an eating contest so:p.
 
PeterMuz said:
You can’t ban something simply because it is bad for your health. But you have to ask yourself what is the cost? If it is bad for your health and there is no real good that comes from it, I would think it could be deemed unacceptable or morally wrong.
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Define good in that type of case.
 
I’d suggest watching the (Hungarian) film ‘Taxidermia’ - that ought to put anybody off competitive eating (and quite a few other things) for life!

You need a strong stomach (not just for the eating contests and it’s certainly not for the more prudish by nature, to say the very least) but it’s an Indie classic.
 
For me, it comes down to, could I participate in something if I could not write about it to my child who lives in the Third World and lives on one meal a day of rice, vegetables, and beans?

What would he think of a culture where they can take enough food to feed his entire village for a whole week, and stuff it into one person who is not even hungry, for an eating contest?
 
I don’t really care what any foreigner thinks of our culture. When there are natual disasters through out the world who donates the most help? The USA buddy! We help others far more than we get helped by any stretch of the imagination. We deserve a little fun activity where we do what we want, and have a little fun.
 
jmcrae said:
I can think of a lot of things that are way more fun than overeating for sport.
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One man’s fun is another’s pain. If my mom had her way all sports would be banned. If my dad had his way sky diving would be banned. Me I like what I like and let others enjoy what they like. God didn’t make us with a cookie cutter afterall.
 
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