So today a 9st, 5ft 7in mother of four from Nebraska ate 363 wings in 30 minutes to win Wing Bowl 22 and the $22k first prize. Her performance was described as "the greatest performance in Wing Bowl history". I actually don't know where to start with those statements, I really don't. I'm trying to work out which of the following appals me the most;
a) This is the 22nd ANNUAL version of this event - 22 years of eating crap for the sake of it
b) Assume each wing is ~50 calories. What does a 9st woman need with around 18,000 calories?!?
c) There are a substantial number of jobs in the US that don't pay $22k a YEAR
d) The local online news site in Philadelphia gave this "story" 700 words and a video
e) Eating is now a performance rather than a necessity to survive
Seriously though, what is wrong with this world? When did competitive eating become a good thing that deserves our time and attention? There are entire communities that could be fed on what was eaten today in this event yet it is treated like a game, a sport, something to be celebrated?!? You can tell this is making me angry because the punctuation is coming out in force.
But I really cannot believe that this kind of thing actually exists. Or maybe I can? Maybe it is symptomatic of the divide between rich and poor that engulfs this world. To us in the Developed World it doesn't seem wrong because we see food in a totally different light. It is not something we treat with the respect it deserves, because we have so much. Instead we essentially make sport out of it whilst turning a blind eye to the suffering of others.
This is another one of these blogs that I start off meaning well but lose my thread somehow. I know I should so something to help but I don't know what. There is something wrong in this world when food is eaten for fun yet also is in desperately short supply at the same time. So that is my plan this weekend, to try and find a practical way to help even a little bit to balance things.
A few things are for sure; I'll be giving wings a wide-berth and there will certainly be no prizes for gluttony awarded.
Today's #randomfactoftheday - St. Petersburg is the most northernmost city on the planet with a population over 1 million people.
Today's #badjokeoftheday - Q: Why do cows wear bells? A: Because their horns don't work
Today's #websiteoftheday - Live webcams from Chester Zoo, obviously much better during the day (http://www.chesterzoo.org/must-sees/web-cams/)
On this day: 1961, the first Hominidae (Great Ape) is launched into space - a chimp called "Ham"
Till next time,
DT
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