Aug 8, 2007 11:31 am US/Eastern
Food Bank Hopes Sandwich-Eating Contest Hits Home
BUENA PARK, Calif. (CBS) ―
The director of the Orange County Food Bank is hoping a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich-eating contest at Knott's Berry Farm Wednesday will increase awareness of hunger in Orange County.
"Pop culture is full of events that may have no redeeming social value," Food Bank Director Mark Lowry says.
"Sometimes even a silly event like this can draw attention to a serious social event like hunger. Hopefully we can raise some awareness and in raising awareness, raise support for efforts to help feed vulnerable people in Orange County."
Competitors will have 10 minutes to eat as many sandwiches as they can in the inaugural Drum Corps International World Peanut Butter and Jelly Eating Championship, held in conjunction with the 2007 Drum Corps International Summer Music Games World Championships at the Rose Bowl Thursday through Saturday.
Because of the difficulty of swallowing peanut butter, the sandwiches used tomorrow will have a 2-1 ratio of jelly to peanut butter, according to Ryan Nerz, the media manager for Major League Eating, which bills itself as the world governing body for stomach-centric sports.
Competitors will be allowed to dunk their sandwiches in liquid to make them easier to consume, Nerz said.
As in all Major League Eating competitions, an emergency medical technician will be present to provide aid in case of choking, he said.
The winner will receive $1,500, the runner-up $1,000 and third-place finisher $500.
A 2005 study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found there were approximately 214,000 adults in Orange County with food insecurity, defined as disruption in eating patterns and reduced food intake.
When asked whether it was appropriate to hold eating contests while others don't have enough to eat, Nerz said, "We understand it seems like a logical critique, but when it comes down to it, people don't really complain about NASCAR being a waste of gas.
"Once you making that sort of critique of something like competitive eating, we just feel like it's a slippery slope. When you look at the general excesses of a rampant capitalistic society like America, what you're talking about is a drop in the bucket compared to what is going on at large."
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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