A Brief History of Throwing Food in Politics

Far-right political figures are getting milkSHOOK. đŸ„€ But they’re not the only ones to have food hurled at them in protest.

The newest tool or political protest?


Protesting through milkshaking, pieing, and egging are amusing to watch. They wound pride, but little to nothing else. The absurdity is delicious (whether chocolate or strawberry-flavored). And when a political figure is pelted with mushy food products, they are being treated with the exact level of respect they sometimes dole out.


Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage was ‘milkshaked’ after giving a short speech in Newcastle on May 20, 2019. A few days prior, Edinburgh police asked McDonald's to stop selling milkshakes ahead of a Farage rally. Their rival Burger King retaliated
 Farage is now the third U.K. political figure to have been milkshook.


Eggs have a long history in political protest — from Richard Nixon's motorcade getting pelted in the 1960s, to far-right Australian politician Fraser Anning's famous 2019 egging. This followed his comments about immigration after the deadly Christchurch mosque attacks.


In 2013, French poultry farmers smashed 100,000 eggs outside a tax office in Brittany to protest low egg prices. In 2002, French presidential candidate François Bayrou was cream-pied by four young people. In 2012, a protestor threw flour on ex-president Francois Hollande while he was giving a speech on housing in Paris. In India, food can shape politics. Onions are used by many people to judge inflation and have even toppled government. In 1981, former prime minister Indira Gandhi used their high prices to win the general election.
Onions have also been used to corner rural votes.


It all started when another British far-right politician, Tommy Robinson got splattered. This was followed by another far right candidate and YouTube personality Carl Benjamin. Historically, it's not just shakes —here are some other edible protest tools around the world



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