It is a simple contest with a very specific skill, eat 80g of watercress faster than anyone else.
Glenn Walsh, a 17-time world watercress eating champion from Bishop’s Sutton, is preparing to defend his title at the Alresford Watercress Festival in Hampshire.
The annual festival marks the start of watercress season in the UK, and one of its main attractions is The World Watercress Eating Championships.
“When they say go, you just open a bag and stuff it down, and it’s the quickest time that wins, as simple as that really,” Walsh said.
Walsh, who is hoping for his 18th title, said about 25 to 30 people usually take part in the contest.
Asked if he likes the peppery salad leaves, the champion, nicknamed the “Popeye of Watercress eating”, said: “I don’t mind a bit of it mixed in with something.”
The festival is a not-for-profit event with entertainment, crafts, food and cookery demos. Any money made is donated to charities, with children’s cancer charity Abby’s Heroes as the main beneficiary.
Walsh said the festival started small but has grown into a massive event, with thousands attending last year.
He said that over the past 22 years he has competed against people from around the world.
“I had Chinese radio one time there, I don’t think they quite got my sense of humour but there we go,” he said.
Speaking to Radio Solent, Walsh said the winner gets a cup, but he really competes for “the honour, I suppose”.
Alresford became the centre of the watercress industry in 1865, when the rail line to the Georgian town opened and farmers could send their leaves to market in Covent Garden.
It has since been named the UK’s capital of watercress farming.
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