The winner of the 2024 World Nettle Eating Championships has been crowned, with Beth Hodges taking the title for the second year in a row. The 38-year-old from Barry Island consumed 19.5 meters (64 feet) of nettles in the competition, which was held at the Dorset Nectar Cider Farm in Waytown, near Bridport. More than 30 people from around the world took part in the contest.
According to Hodges, she hadn’t planned on entering last year’s competition, but when she tasted the nettles, she decided to give it a shot. She won, and retained her title this year, despite a tough field of former champions. Participants had 30 minutes to eat as many leaves as possible, and were given cider to help soothe the pain.
The contest involves stripping leaves from the stems of nettles, which can be eaten one by one or mashed into a patty. Hodges described the taste as similar to matcha green tea, but noted that the nettles can become very dry and fibrous, making them difficult to swallow. Despite consuming so many nettles, Hodges said it wasn’t her mouth that hurt – it was her hands, which were still feeling the effects of the stings even after the contest was over.
The origins of the World Nettle Eating Championships date back to the 1980s, when two farmers got into an argument about who had the longest nettles in their field. The longest-nettle contest evolved into the eating competition when one of the farmers, Alex Williams, vowed to eat any nettle that was longer than his
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