Two articles placed side by side in the Sun Journal July 5 struck me as ironic. One article, “Sowing the seeds of self-reliance,” spoke eloquently of the needs of rural people for nutritious food. In this excellent article, I learned that because larger grocery stores are often hours away, rural people often cannot afford higher prices for good nutrition.

Our nation’s food issues are dripping with irony. Area food pantries barely keep up with needs for groceries. Children from poor families often go hungry, while children from all families struggle with obesity issues. Worldwide, approximately 40,000 people die each day from hunger-related diseases, and most of them are children. Each day, the world raises more good food than can be used.

This irony seemed lost on Takeru Kobayashi in the second article. According to the article, Kobayashi “gulped down” 53 hot dogs in 12 minutes. Apparently, this was reported on ESPN.

So let me get this straight. Many children needlessly go hungry, yet Mr. Kobayashi and associates have endless supplies of hot dogs for contests of consuming as much as possible in as short a time as possible.

To make matters worse, we even raise such activity to the level of sports entertainment. If such events are broadcast worldwide, can we be surprised if other nations and cultures find our excess to be appalling and deplorable?

The question for us remains, why wouldn’t we come to the same conclusion?

Rev. Michael J. Seavey,

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church,

Lewiston

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