When Lakeland resident Cortney Greeson saw a brochure about the Strawberry Spaghetti Eating Contest at the Florida Strawberry Festival five years ago, she decided to enter the competition. The registered nurse and fitness enthusiast doesn’t eat pasta, so why was the idea of being the first to finish a half pound bowl of spaghetti topped not with a meatball but a strawberry, using a large wooden spoon, appealing?
“I’ve always been told I eat fast, it’s just what I do,” she joked. “People ask me if I’m in the military but I’m not.” Greeson, who won the contest that year, has competed every year since, besting younger and larger eaters to earn the top spot. She’ll be competing this year for her fifth consecutive win. “It’s become the thing I do at the Florida Strawberry Festival,” she said.
Like a prizefighter at the top of their game, Greeson brings her entourage (a.k.a. family) to watch her stuff her face. When she finishes, she displays her trophies from prior wins and a drapes championship belts, bought as a joke, over her shoulders.
“I have no other claim to fame so if my thing is spaghetti-eating queen then I’m going to make the most of it,” she said.
One year her dad entered the contest too. She was intimidated. “He once put an entire Big Mac in his mouth and ate it in one bite,” said Greeson. He was no match for his daughter. Halfway through the eating contest, he looked over at her almost-empty bowl and said ‘what is wrong with you?’ It was the first and last time he entered the contest. “My dad said he won’t do it again because he got beat too badly,” she said.
Too terrified to go up against Greeson? Other eating contests held during the Festival include the Deep Fried Strawberry on a Stick Relay, Amish Donut Eating Contest, Youth and Adult Strawberry Stemming Contests, Duper Dog Mega Corndog Eating Contest and Strawberry Mashed Potato Pie Eating Contest. If your proclivity is to cook food rather than eat it, several Neighborhood Village Competitions allow you to show off your best jams, jellies, pies, cookies or breads as well as display your quilting, jewelry, woodworking, home decor and needlework skills. Enter your cutie in the Baby Contest. Showcase a piece of art in the Art Show. Enter a plant or flower in the Horticulture Show. Create a mini parade float to enter in the Shoebox Float Contest (youth only).
“There are so many opportunities to get involved at #BerryFest23,” said Cala Callins, Competitive Exhibits Director at the Florida Strawberry Festival.
For information about the Florida Strawberry Festival’s contests, their rules and application windows, visit www.flstrawberryfestval.com.