Per una semiotica della protesta alimentare

From eggs to yoghurt, from the American pie to rotten tomatoes, food has been largely used in protest actions. Moreover, we should not forget hunger strikes, which consist in nonviolent practices of prolonged voluntary fasting expressing dissent against something or someone. Besides, another very interesting case is that of the demonstrations in favour of vegetarianism and against the very common practice of eating meat, where the human body itself symbolically becomes the food to be consumed. So, how can food serve as an instrument of dissent? Does a “food protest” exist? And, if so, how can it be analysed from a semiotic point of view? Thinking over some interesting case studies, chosen for their relevance among many present or recent examples, this paper aims at answering these questions.