Competitive eating, or speed eating, is a sport that is all about food. Success in the sport requires efficiency, which is a combination of capacity — eating a lot of food — and speed-eating it fast. Contests are typically eight to 10 minutes long, with the person consuming the most food declared the winner. Current professional eating contests can offer $10,000 or more in prize money. Traditionally, eating contests (usually involving children eating pies) were county fair events. The recent rise in popularity of competitive eating is largely due to the growth over almost 100 years of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, an annual Independence Day tradition at Coney Island, New York. The event generates enormous media attention and has been aired on major sports channels. Many commentators believe the Nathan’s contest has had a direct impact on the development of competitive eating as a sport. Surprisingly, restaurant hosts don’t always make a lot of money on contest days, as contestants tend to eat more food than their entry fee would purchase. Money is only part of the reason that contests primarily use fast food, though. “Restaurants would go out of business with a steak eating contest,” says Peter “Wingman” McDermott, prize-winning speed eater. “Hot dogs and wings are familiar and don’t break the bank.” But what is it that motivates contestants like Peter to eat those hot dogs and wings? “A lot of speed eaters I know were never big athletes in high school and are just looking for a really fast way to get on TV. I started out that way,” he said. “But now I definitely make sure to stay healthy. This isn’t something an unhealthy person wants to start doing.” McDermott appreciates that he can have a life outside his “sport,” as “the competition is over almost as soon as it started. Eaters can compete and still have most of their day left.” Speed eating is increasingly regulated by the kinds of organizations familiar in much bigger sports, like football and hockey. The International Federation of Competitive Ea