“I’ve never had a hot dog before…
What do they taste like?”
“Well, they are a taste sensation.
Each morsel is a joy!
A celebration in a bun!”
from The Pigeon Finds a Hotdog
written and illustrated by Mo Willems
Hyperion Books for Children, 2004
(accessed on YouTube 7/2/23)
Have you ever thought about entering an eating contest? They’re held for all kinds of food. Major League Eating is a real thing with an organization and rules and everything. You can find all MLE contests under the tab on their website.
Start in January noshing bagels in Las Vegas and work your way up to the epitome of eating contests on July 4th every year on Coney Island, home of Nathan’s hotdogs. Along the way stop in Santa Monica for pistachios in February. Gobble chicken wings in Miami in March. Inhale burritos in April in Milwaukee and sweet corn in West Palm Beach, FL. In May, run over to Manor, TX for the Sausage Palooza then bolt down glazed donuts in San Diego on June 2, National Donut Day.
Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest has been held since 1972, but legend holds that four immigrant customers at Nathan Handwerker’s newly-opened hot dog shop on Coney Island started it all. They challenged each other to see who was most patriotic. Of course they chose to eat the most American food of all, hotdogs. Over 40,000 fans come in person or tune in to ESPN to watch the contestants live.
Joey Chestnut won the contest seven years in a row from 2007 to 2014, and again in 2016. In 2021, he broke his old world record of 73 by downing 76 dogs (and buns) in 10 minutes. But that’s not all. According to MLE, he holds 55 World Records in 55 categories including chicken wings, asparagus, tacos, twinkies, apple pie, cherry pie and of course, hot dogs. He’ll be competing on Coney Island again this year.
What goes into Nathan’s famous hot dogs? You can check the ingredients list, but the nutrition label states:
290 calories
18g fat
24g carbohydrate
1g fiber
10g protein
I did the math. Joey’s World Record hot dog prize amounted to 22,040 calories!
Hot dogs even all-beef ones, have fillers, preservatives, and flavor enhancers. Even so, that’s a lot of beef.
And it all comes from cows, but maybe not forever.
Last week, Upside Foods and GOOD Meat both received their approvals to use cells from chickens to create cultured chicken products. Lab produced meat has been in development for a number of years by several different labs.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) work together (USDA-FSIS) to certify processed food sold in the US is safe.
The The United States Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA) regulates our meat, poultry, and egg products. Since July, 2018, the two agencies have been working together to oversee lab-produced meat.
Companies need approval from both agencies before they can sell their products to the public. So lab-grown chicken is on its way to market in the US. Could beef be next?
Of course labs won’t give out their secrets, but the overgeneralization goes something like this. Through a needle biopsy, DNA cells are extracted from an animal. Inside huge, sterile vats, these cells are fed a mixture of fats, sugar, amino acids, and vitamins so they can grow into meat. And voila!
Based on the list I made of the pros and cons of lab produced meat, it’s probably a good idea. Cows, chickens, and even fish will be saved from slaughter. Ocean life will be allowed to replenish itself. “Warehousing” chickens can become a thing of the past. Methane and other greenhouse gasses will be reduced, helping to lessen the effects of our current climate catastrophe. Grazing land can be used for human crops and renewable energy. Water use can be diverted to grow crops for humans instead of irrigating pasture land.
Harder to list are the negatives. Where will our eggs come from? Milk? Leather? Suitable substitutes are already in the market, so…
What will become of the cows? the ranchers? I doubt that cattlemen or chicken farmers can be convinced to convert their land to solar or wind farms. But maybe?
A June 27, 2023, article in Forbes predicted the process to expensive to ever be able to catch on. But with good marketing and adequate public and private funding, it just might.
Wouldn’t you be in favor of cultured meat? How about ? Clean meat? No-kill meat meat? Sustainable meat? Wouldn’t a steak by any other name still taste as good? or better!
I just started reading (finally) Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen (The New Press, 2018). I’ll post my impressions next week!
-—Be curious! (and celebrate July 4,
with—or without—a hot dog or two)
What do they taste like?”
“Well, they are a taste sensation.
Each morsel is a joy!
A celebration in a bun!”
from The Pigeon Finds a Hotdog
written and illustrated by Mo Willems
Hyperion Books for Children, 2004
(accessed on YouTube 7/2/23)
Have you ever thought about entering an eating contest? They’re held for all kinds of food. Major League Eating is a real thing with an organization and rules and everything. You can find all MLE contests under the tab on their website.
Start in January noshing bagels in Las Vegas and work your way up to the epitome of eating contests on July 4th every year on Coney Island, home of Nathan’s hotdogs. Along the way stop in Santa Monica for pistachios in February. Gobble chicken wings in Miami in March. Inhale burritos in April in Milwaukee and sweet corn in West Palm Beach, FL. In May, run over to Manor, TX for the Sausage Palooza then bolt down glazed donuts in San Diego on June 2, National Donut Day.
Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest has been held since 1972, but legend holds that four immigrant customers at Nathan Handwerker’s newly-opened hot dog shop on Coney Island started it all. They challenged each other to see who was most patriotic. Of course they chose to eat the most American food of all, hotdogs. Over 40,000 fans come in person or tune in to ESPN to watch the contestants live.
Joey Chestnut won the contest seven years in a row from 2007 to 2014, and again in 2016. In 2021, he broke his old world record of 73 by downing 76 dogs (and buns) in 10 minutes. But that’s not all. According to MLE, he holds 55 World Records in 55 categories including chicken wings, asparagus, tacos, twinkies, apple pie, cherry pie and of course, hot dogs. He’ll be competing on Coney Island again this year.
What goes into Nathan’s famous hot dogs? You can check the ingredients list, but the nutrition label states:
290 calories
18g fat
24g carbohydrate
1g fiber
10g protein
I did the math. Joey’s World Record hot dog prize amounted to 22,040 calories!
Hot dogs even all-beef ones, have fillers, preservatives, and flavor enhancers. Even so, that’s a lot of beef.
And it all comes from cows, but maybe not forever.
Last week, Upside Foods and GOOD Meat both received their approvals to use cells from chickens to create cultured chicken products. Lab produced meat has been in development for a number of years by several different labs.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) work together (USDA-FSIS) to certify processed food sold in the US is safe.
The The United States Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA) regulates our meat, poultry, and egg products. Since July, 2018, the two agencies have been working together to oversee lab-produced meat.
Companies need approval from both agencies before they can sell their products to the public. So lab-grown chicken is on its way to market in the US. Could beef be next?
Of course labs won’t give out their secrets, but the overgeneralization goes something like this. Through a needle biopsy, DNA cells are extracted from an animal. Inside huge, sterile vats, these cells are fed a mixture of fats, sugar, amino acids, and vitamins so they can grow into meat. And voila!
Based on the list I made of the pros and cons of lab produced meat, it’s probably a good idea. Cows, chickens, and even fish will be saved from slaughter. Ocean life will be allowed to replenish itself. “Warehousing” chickens can become a thing of the past. Methane and other greenhouse gasses will be reduced, helping to lessen the effects of our current climate catastrophe. Grazing land can be used for human crops and renewable energy. Water use can be diverted to grow crops for humans instead of irrigating pasture land.
Harder to list are the negatives. Where will our eggs come from? Milk? Leather? Suitable substitutes are already in the market, so…
What will become of the cows? the ranchers? I doubt that cattlemen or chicken farmers can be convinced to convert their land to solar or wind farms. But maybe?
A June 27, 2023, article in Forbes predicted the process to expensive to ever be able to catch on. But with good marketing and adequate public and private funding, it just might.
Wouldn’t you be in favor of cultured meat? How about ? Clean meat? No-kill meat meat? Sustainable meat? Wouldn’t a steak by any other name still taste as good? or better!
I just started reading (finally) Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen (The New Press, 2018). I’ll post my impressions next week!
-—Be curious! (and celebrate July 4,
with—or without—a hot dog or two)
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