#Monday madness: The history of food fights

Although usually associated with environments such as schools, food fights have been a common sight in Europe since the middle ages during summertime events.

Examples of a food fights:

1. Spanish La Tomatina – a yearly celebration in August held in the Valencian town of Buñol, where participants pelt each other with tomatoes.
2. La Battaglia delle Arance (Battle of the Oranges.)- is a three-day festival held in Ivrea, Italy, where people re-enact a medieval rebellion against a tyrant by pelting each other with oranges.
3. The World Custard Pie Championship – this is a yearly English tradition inspired by Charlie Chaplin. The festival pits four teams against each other as they pummel their opponents with custard pies.
4. Clean Monday the Flour War – this is a battle where coloured flour is the weapon of choice in Galaxidi, a small fishing village in Greece. It signifies the start of the Greek Orthodox Lent period and consists of people pelting each other with flour dyed with food colouring.

Food fights have also become a common element in slapstick comedy, whether in children’s movies or books, where the pie-in-the face gag is well known.

However, some food battles have a less amusing tone, like when they are used to express anger and aggressiveness.
Greeks in particular have been known to launch yogurt at figures they don’t like—an activity called yaourtoma, or yogurting.

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