La Reforma integral en la educación media superior

The rise of professional competitive eating has coincided with a time when overeating has become a cause for national concern. However, the origins of eating competitions suggest a longstanding history of individual gorging in a communal setting, as well as enjoyment in watching others partake in said gorging. Ryan Nerz (2006, 55) begins his “not-so-brief history of competitive eating” by professing that eating to excess, as a pastime, has existed since ancient Rome. He discusses the appearance of feasts in

Satyricon, a Roman satire dating back to the first century, as well as using the example of banquets thrown by Richard II in the fourteenth century (Nerz 2006, 55). Fagone (2006, 16) found that speed and volume competitions appear in ancient Greek and Scandinavian myths, and eating contests were common at Native American potlatch feasts. However, the format of eating competition that is familiar to most today originate in America. For instance, the pie eating contest became commonplace at fairs by the beginning of the twentieth century (Nerz 2006, 56). Additionally, from 1880 to 1930, historical evidence

suggests that eating contests between African Americans were arranged and viewed by white Americans. These competitions provided entertainment during “club meetings, civil organization forums, and professional conferences” and items to consume included watermelon, pies, crackers or rice (Vardi 2010).

However, as Rubin (2008, 249) points out, eating contests differ from competitive eating, and the more recent phenomenon of “professional competitive eating”. The eating contest is classified by its informal nature, opponents are connected through family or community ties, the food is generally part of the local diet and participants are ordinary citizens (Rubin 2008, 249). Competitive eating, by comparison, is a contest of skill, and there is some form of remuneration, “which may or may not be monetary and includes, but is not limited to money, material objects, visibility and fame,” and stems from the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest that began in 1916 on Coney Island (Rubin 2008, 250). Professional competitive eating implies skill or expertise and participants operate within specific guidelines. The inception of the International

Federation of Competitive Eaters (IFOCE) serves to legitimize professional competitive eating as a sport and is the governing body of a number of major competitive eating contests (Congalton 2009, 177). Brothers George and Rich Shea, who owned the Shea Communications Group, created the IFOCE in late 1997. George Shea, earlier that year, had suggested that Nathan’s Famous sponsor qualifying contests leading up to their Fourth of July hot dog eating contest; this would be the forerunner to the modern American competitive-eating circuit (Nerz 2006, 16). However, it wasn’t until 2001, when a 131-pound Japanese man named Takeru Kobayashi consumed fifty hot dogs at the Nathan’s Fourth of July contest that competitive eating really took off. Nerz (2006, 18) explains, “Within twenty-four hours, Kobayashi became the face of competitive eating and the platform for the launch of a new sport”. The IFOCE holds approximately 80 events a year. Their website boasts that the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest broadcast on ESPN on the fourth of July has generated a higher rating than any Major League Baseball game broadcast on the same day. These examples are a testament to the “sport’s” growing popularity (MLE 2014).

Different theories abound as to why eating competitions have gained in

popularity. The creator of the IFOCE, Rich Shea, believes eating competitions are just an outgrowth of publicity: “In an era when Joe Schmoes become stars on well-received reality TV shows and Paris Hilton becomes a megastar for doing nothing in particular, public relations no longer nips at the heels of entertainment. It is entertainment. And it’s addictive, as proven by the popularity of shameless gossip glossies like Us Weekly and People” (Nerz 2006, 21). Rubin (2008, 253) also postulates that competitive eating stems from the democratization of professional competitive sports and provides many with the ability to achieve their fifteen minutes of fame. Vardi (2010) accounts for its popularity by arguing: “This messy pastime probably appealed to many Americans because it seems to embody several building-blocks of their dominant culture: individual-based

competition, the challenging of limits, the imperative of "saving time," and the unrefined, bountiful consumption of food.”

Both Halloran (2004) and Rubin (2008) argue that watching eating competitions are cathartic for viewers. Rubin (2008, 257) argues that professional competitive eating provides audiences with a sense of control over what he terms “our national eating disorder” and provides the catharsis that was once provided by the liberating rites of reversal like the carnival. The competitions can also be seen as a link or return to ritual feasting that has, for the most part, disappeared within society: “Professional competitive eating, or sanctioned high-speed feasting, although an ostensibly banal, if not perverse, popular culture phenomenon, may represent an attempt to reintegrate feasting into culture, and culture into history” (Rubin 2008, 258). Halloran has also indicated that the rise of eating competitions may stem from an unhealthy relationship to food:

The constant barrage of contradictory information and research reported on the topics of nutrition, weight-loss, and proper dietary habits has prompted popular culture to embrace the spectacle of extreme eating as a form of entertainment. The rebellious disregard of manners, propriety, and moderation involved in the

consumption of large amounts of food speaks to the social anxiety and guilt regarding what we actually eat versus the diets we think we should be following […] As long as the general public is confused and concerned about its weight and eating practices, it seems, eating events will continue to amuse and entertain the masses. (Halloran 2004, 27-8)

These theories of potential fame and catharsis provide a framework through which to view the eating competition portion of Man vs. Food Nation, and can also be considered when theorizing the growth of food shows that focus on people consuming food, and large amounts of it.