The University of Massachusetts Lettuce Club hosted their second annual lettuce eating competition on Saturday, April 27th at the Metawampe Lawn. Students competed to earn the fastest time eating an entire head of iceberg lettuce.

A crowd of students, EMS responders, members of the Lettuce Club and Sam the Minuteman were at the competition. Keira Doyle, a sophomore social media manager for the club said their main focus right now is the annual competition, but the group is also working to collaborate with more clubs on campus.

“We’ve collaborated with the Art Club where we did a lettuce painting night. We work alongside hydrofarm, they grow some of our lettuce,” Doyle said.

The student-run hydrofarm is located on the UMass campus across from the Franklin Dining Commons.

At last year’s competition the club used lettuce that was grown by the hydrofarm, but this year they “wanted a sturdier head of lettuce and there were more participants,” to provide the lettuce to, so they switched vendors, according to Doyle.

The excitement amongst the crowd grew when Dylan Wang, a sophomore computer engineering student and vice president of lettuce club, opened the doors from the Student Union with a cart filled with bundles of lettuce. Contestants were asked to each grab one head of lettuce to eat and they could use different condiments to make the lettuce more appealing.

President David Matevosian, a senior natural resource conservation forced ecology major told spectators, “I would like to thank all of you today for supporting the ridiculous club that is the UMass Lettuce Club.”

Matevosian also told competitors that if his previous time of four minutes and 16 seconds were to be beat, he will personally donate $50 to the Amherst Survival Center and if more than one person beats that time he will add another $20 to a food related charity.

With the commencement of announcements, the competition started. Sam the Minuteman cheered and went around punching his fists in the air to celebrate and pump up of the competitors. Competitors shoveled the lettuce down with gulps of water and salad dressings.

After only three minutes and 12 seconds, Thomas Paine, a freshman accounting major at UMass became the champion and the new president of the club.

“I’m stoked. I’m so excited for what this club has to offer and I’m very glad a lot of people showed up,” Paine said.

The club is hoping to expand its networking to work alongside more clubs and be involved in sustainability initiatives on campus.

Eva Maniatty can be reached at [email protected].