By: Sydney Franklin Photo by: Sydney Franklin
When you think of a hot dog eating contest, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Your Uncle Bob? The state fair? That one time you threw up five hot dogs?
As part of his Milligan College Quality Enhancement Project, junior Will Major discovered a whole new world of food fanaticism in the sport of Major League Eating (MLE).
Major’s interest in this strange carnival-like craft began during his sophomore composition class and grew into a two-year long study on the philosophy behind competitive eating.
“I started with this whole notion of doing a sociological study on how gender affects specifically how you’re viewed as what you’re eating,” said Major. “Based on how you eat, that’s how you’re perceived as a person and that’s your niche.”
Inspired by the power of food from popular television characters like Ron Swanson from the television show Parks and Recreation, Major noticed that foods can be seen as feminine, masculine, homosexual, heterosexual and metro sexual — a concept completely foreign to the average eater.
“Does food define who we are?” asked Major. “The masculine archetype of eating meat and eating excessively and powerfully is competitive eating.”
Upon looking into the sport, his first reaction was natural and upfront: “All competitive eaters are mindless eating machines that don’t care about their bodies,” he said. “But that’s completely wrong.”
Major has observed this phenomenon twice at the Fourth of July Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island, N.Y., which receives ESPN coverage every year. He’s also been to the Philadelphia Wing Bowl, which occurs every Friday preceding the Super Bowl.
Major presented his ideas at the International Food Studies Conference in Houston, Texas last month. His final paper discussed the competitive eating philosophy of Crazy Legs Conti, an MLE spokesman ranked number 20 in the world, who believes eating can change the world as well as interpersonal relationships.
“I realized that what Conti is saying and a lot of othercompetitive eaters in the fast food world is exactly the same rhetoric that the slow food, sustainable movement, local food movement uses,” said Major. “It’s the same language but Conti more accessible and more inclusive about his ideas on food than these people that are trying to make food a kind of political choice.”
Major went on to say that though local food advocates are striving for political change, they are failing because they cannot connect with their audiences.
“They seem too exclusive and elite, whereas Conti is saying the same thing but he’s apart of the fast food culture and he’s more likely to say something and influence someone,” said Major.
Eaters like Conti are average joes but with big ideas about the food world. With both a bachelors and doctoral degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University, Conti’s bizarre talent for food consumption is only a side hobby, much like many other eaters. Conti knows what he’s doing to his body.
“He knows where his food comes from, is conscious about his eating habits and is a local food advocate,” said Major. “MLE, in their own right, they celebrate local foods through competition.”
Contests like Louisiana’s Rouses Crawfish Eating World Champion, the Acme Oyster Eating World Championship, the Ben’s Chili Bowl’s World Chili Eating Championship in Washington, D.C., and the Western Days World Tamale Eating Contest Championship in Texas are just a few among the nation’s biggest competitions.
Major wants to know how to bridge the two dialogues of the local food movement and the world of competitive eating together, and maybe both influences will spark some change in food consumption.
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