A quick history of throwing food or drinks on people to protest

Many people connected with others who were involved in controversial (often homophobic or racist) individuals were slapped with food during public events. This was the case the time that American anti-gay activist Anita Bryant was hit on the face with cream pie while on TV in 1977. Australian far-right political figure Fraser Anning was egged in 2019, and British Brexit Party’s Nigel Farage was “milkshake” during his campaign in the UK in the 2019 European Union Parliament elections.

The juice spilled over Keen Minshull is part of the long history of public officials and other controversial celebrities being hit by food items in protests against them.

Kellie-Jaykeen-Minshull (left) together alongside One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts at a rally in front of Parliament House this month. AAP/ Mick Tsikas

A tasty symbol of protest

According to what Ekaterina Gladkova wrote, food has always been a powerful symbol of protest. The writer wrote about the food riots that occurred in the 1800s; the social historian E.P. Thompson claimed that food was an element of the “moral economy” and food prices were the main focus of protests by the poor in England.

Food is also used to symbolize moral resentment, using tomatoes, eggs, and other foods that are sticky and soft being thrown at politicians. Most often, the food is soaked or stained by the subject in question. the intention behind throwing food is not to harm them, but rather to shame them. The aim is to transform unpopular characters into ones to be ridiculed and to highlight the moral aversion to their appearance in public.

Anita Bryant, an outspoken advocate for gay rights ran, a campaign to overturn a local ordinance that was passed in Florida in 1977, which banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. Wikimedia, CC BY

Through the 20th century, diverse groups of people threw food at protesters in the 20th century, especially at politicians. In 1910 in the year 1910, one of them, British female suffragette Ethel Moorhead threw an egg at Winston Churchill when he was the home secretary. This was a response to the treatment of women in prison, such as the forced feeding of people who were on hunger strikes.

In 1960, US Vice-President Richard Nixon was pelted with tomatoes and eggs during his campaign in Chicago. In Britain in the 1970s and 1980s, the visits of right-wing political leaders to campuses of universities witnessed a variety of food items being that were thrown. Sir Keith Joseph, one of Margaret Thatcher’s first supporters, experienced eggs and flour bombs thrown on the latter at Essex University in 1977. Minister for the Home Office David Waddington was covered in beer in December 1985 while the minister visited Manchester University. The next year, Enoch Powell received an attack with a ham and cheese sandwich in the course of a lecture during a speech at Bristol University.

“They released smoke and smell bombs, and at one point they threw a sandwich of ham and salad towards him …’ according to BACUS, the Bristol Student Newspaper.

It’s an excellent egg in this tough time.

Australian political leaders have been to eggings through the years. The most famous eggings occurred during the time of the then Prime Premier Billy Hughes in 1917 in Queensland. Hughes, who was campaigning for conscription during the onset of the World War, called for the creation of the Commonwealth Police Force (the precursor to the Australian Federal Police). Australian Federal Police).

In the latter part of the 1970s and into the early 1980s, the then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser was egged on numerous occasions. For example, in 1979, those protesting about unemployment and poverty hurled eggs at Fraser and reportedly yelled, “Feed the rich!” In 1981, students protesting against charges hurled eggs and tomatoes at the prime minister upon his arrival at Macquarie University.