Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Bite Your Tongue Gallon Challenge: Does a Body Bad
Posted by Carrington Fox on Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 11:02 AM
Scene intern Caroline Hallemann contributed this post.
I was in high school when I first heard of The Gallon Challenge, a dairy dare to drink a gallon of whole milk in under an hour. While the notion of such lactose excess would repulse most people, keep in mind that 11th grade guys are not most people. In their testosterone-addled minds, the statement that a human cannot ingest that much milk in an hour without regurgitating morphed into a modern-day sword in the stone.
Rumors flitted of mere mortals who had achieved such a feat with 2-percent milk, and fueled by that spurious evidence, the brave and the stupid took up their yellow jugs. I have never seen so much vomit in my life.
And I'm not the only one to witness such a Technicolor spectacle. Google "The Gallon Challenge," and you'll get 596,000 search results. Its spicy cousin the Cinnamon Challenge yields a million entries dealing with people attempting to swallow a tablespoon of cinnamon in one go.
Which leads me to this question: What is the point of food-consumption contests? Particularly at a time when waistlines are expanding as budgets are tightening? I'm looking at you, Joey Chestnut. And you, Bites readers. What's the deal?
Comments (4)
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There will always be room for conspicuous consumption in our society.
On a side note, I've made a few bucks off the "Wonder Bread Challenge," myself.
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You might be interested to know that Joey Chestnut did just that gallon of milk challenge to get into Wing Bowl a few years ago. In 41 seconds! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxoVPrXEebY
On an amateur level, I'm sure it's fun to compete and succeed at something that's enjoyable to you (eating) and that seems easy enough, even if the truth is that it is quite hard. I'm sure plenty of people fantasize about being given a pass at gorging on as much of their favorite food as possible, and an eating competition can do that in a fun way.
On the professional level, it's similar, but the incentives are higher. Chances at money, time with the media, and some lasting friendships with interesting people. For a lot of them, it's a fun way to spend their free time and gain a little fame while they're at it.
I have witnessed the Gallon Challenge as well as other similar eating contests. I wish the participants would consider the hunger and poverty needs not only around the world but just around the corner before needlessly overconsuming. I find it disgusting and irresponsible that our society condones eating so much that we vomit just for kicks and giggles while for far too many, hunger is no joke.
