Graham Finlay, a lecturer in the School of Politics and International Relations at UCD, joined Claire Byrne on RTÉ Radio 1 to discuss the role of food in political protest.
The use of food in political protest has a long and sticky history, but how far back can we trace this food-filled tactic?
"All the way back," insists Finlay. "You see it in almost every society that peasants, who are vulnerable to food scarcity, taking it out, using food on people who were exploiting them or gouging them."
"It's a really interesting combination of actual violence, to sort of defend their rights, and humiliation and fun," he continues. "There's a lot of light hearted moments when food is abundant - where they make fun of their lords and their betters - but when things gets scare, they tend to really incorporate a much more violent part of it."
Finlay notes that the violence has historically been somewhat controlled in that the weapons of choice may range from offal to eggs but never rocks or anything that could potentially kill the recipient.
"In a small community, where everyone knows each other, this was a really powerful way of discouraging bad behaviour."
In the interview, Byrne and Finlay talk through a long list of food-based political protests from Anita Bryant being pied in the face in 1977, to a milkshake being thrown on Nigel Farage in 2019. Listen back above.
