# Has anyone here ever been in an actual food fight? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2019, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577 "2019-10-28T08:31:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/21 "2019-10-29T03:55:51Z")
Once, on a bus returning from a band trip. I don’t remember if it was 8th or 9th grade, but yeah, we got started throwing M&Ms and chips at each other, and formed a gummy, salty, crunchy mess on the floor of the bus. ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/22 "2019-10-29T04:10:19Z")
8th grade in the early 80’s. There was a steakhouse near the middle school that served really good french fries (a big pile on a wood and metal plate) and a lot of kids would go there after school. With about 5 to 8 tables of kids, one friendly thrown fry to one kid who said that he had run out of fries ended up being about 25 or 30 kids throwing fries around the restaurant. Kids without parents were banned on that day. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/23 "2019-10-29T06:33:47Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > Yes, that’s what I’m saying. I’ve never in my life been in or seen a food fight. And I’m not sure I understand why “being in a food fight” is something to be proud of. We have people begging for food in this country today, yet some of you think you should brag about wasting food because you threw it at each other when you were kids. Maybe grow up and stop acting like anything you did when you were kids was important. > > man, am I so glad I don’t have kids. My record on helping the homeless and the hungry stands for itself. I don’t need to crawl around begging forgiveness for every time I have ever had fun in my life. What about that movie ticket you bought last week, huh? How many hamburgers could that have purchased? Anything you buy over the absolute minimum could go into the same category. It’s a ridiculous argument. Send me a PM with some examples of what you have actually done, yourself, for the hungry and homeless and maybe I’ll share some ideas with you. But overall? Yeah, you’ll wind up being able to do more for others if you are able to have fun and unwind yourself. ETA: As a matter of fact, while I was at Camp Tonawanda I won a turkey shoot at a Fair down the mountain. The camp counselor pointed out to me that the man who came in second had a large family with him and probably needed it to feed them, so I gave it to him. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/24 "2019-10-29T09:23:40Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I was arrested for being in a food fight about 5 years ago I was 65 at the time. No charges were filed thankfully. I bought a drunk lady a burger fries and a chocolate malt as she requested. When I handed her the food she threw the malt at me and followed up with the burger. I picked up what was left and smeared it in her face and went home. 1 hour later the cops showed up and handcuffed me and brought me back to her house where they questioned both of us about an assault. They dropped the matter and I went back home. Now THAT is a food fight! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/25 "2019-10-29T09:35:27Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > And I’m not sure I understand why “being in a food fight” is something to be proud of. We have people begging for food in this country today, yet some of you think you should brag about wasting food because you threw it at each other when you were kids. Meh, as **TruCelt** noted, pretty much any form of fun that uses resources can be condemned as wasteful. You had a dog when you were a kid? How dare you reminisce about the great times you had with Rover, don’t you know that keeping a pet dog involves massively increasing your carbon footprint? Tsk-tsk! Your family used to take long camper trips in summer vacations? For shame, we’re in a fullblown fossil-fuel crisis yet you think you should brag about wasting fuel on all that unnecessary vacation driving just because you had fun! In the last analysis, a bunch of kids wantonly ruining maybe fifty dollars’ worth of food once a year or so probably adds up to less overall resource waste than some of your own childhood activities, so you might want to consider taking that high horse back to the stable. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/26 "2019-10-29T11:58:49Z")
I was never comfortable with food fights, and I’ve been in some big ones. I still don’t like the idea. I also don’t like other events that are grossly wasteful of food. I understand, any consumption beyond survival could be seen as resources not spent on the many needs in the world, and that theoretically just because it is food it shouldn’t make a difference. But somehow it does. Maybe because I grew up with a parent who came within days of starving to death in WW2’s Dutch “hunger winter”, but the deliberate waste of food just feels wrong, and in a way, arrogant, to me. Please don’t ask me how running cars on ethanol fits into this, or how I can enjoy steaks etc. Ain’t no law says my worldview has to be fully rational and entirely internally consistent. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/27 "2019-10-29T12:03:51Z")
In my MSU dorm in the 1970s, yes it happened and I took part. It got so they stopped serving tater tots on Fridays. Tater tots are the best food fight food, just the right size and weight and shape for accuracy. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/28 "2019-10-29T13:19:49Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Now THAT is a food fight! 😃 Yeah, I think **Badger** wins this thread. Handcuffs, wow! Malt-Assault. Classic! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/29 "2019-10-29T13:28:16Z")
I can only think of one minor incident in which my brother and I were hanging around the kitchen one day. He was chewing a mouthful of olives and I had a tall glass of orange juice. I playfully pretended to toss OJ in his direction, which caused his reflexes to kick in, and he blew chewed-up olives all over me. We both were shocked at this turn of events. 🙂 Of course then I doused that boy. ---
**Author:** ![ASGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@ASGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/30 "2019-10-29T13:42:58Z")
I think this qualifies, but no food was thrown. Scene: sitting at a table by myself in the Hinano Bar in Venice, CA back in the mid 1980s. Lunchtime. I was having a Hinano burger and a beer. A Hinano burger came with a small bag of potato chips. Mild mannered **ASGuy** was eating when the wall above him was hit with a mug of beer. The mug may have broken, I don’t remember. Beer splashed all over the place, including me and a pair of fellows sitting at a nearby table. All three of us got up, spotted our “assailant,” and simultaneously threw _the contents_ of our mugs at him. Not having further ammunition, and frankly not being good at bar fighting, I ran out and left. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/31 "2019-10-29T13:55:10Z")
My story was not funny haha food fight, unfortunately. When my ex and I were together, we often hosted parties for our group of friends. One late July, we hosted a combined birthday party for a few of our friends. I made a half sheet cake, white frosting, bright red and purple flowers. There was a woman who I didn’t really know, figured she was the girlfriend of an attendee. As we go to sing happy birthday, I discover her sitting on my partners lap, feeding him frosting from her fingertips. It was like walking into a cheesy porn flick. They didn’t even notice 20 people entering the kitchen. Yeah. My sister, bless her heart, grabbed a chunk of cake and whipped it at them. I then followed. Then everyone else followed and it was a free for all. After we cleaned up, I went into the bathroom to wash up and found the woman and my partner in there, he was helping wash her hair with my shampoo. They were both booted from my house that evening. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/32 "2019-10-29T14:01:19Z")
Yes, both middle school and college. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/33 "2019-10-29T15:58:55Z")
I feel so inadequate. The closest was watching my parents have what would only be a food skirmish. Dinner was done and we had strawberry shortcake for dessert. A can of whipped cream was available so my mother, brother, and I all booshed on a generous cloud. Then my father took the can and got only white worms. “How come mine doesn’t look as good as yours?” he whined. Mom took the can from him. “It’s because you’re not opening the valve wide enough, like _this!_” and let fly into his face. He grabbed the can back and took revenge inside her blouse. The two of them then jumped up and giggling like mad, chased each other through the living and dining rooms accompanied by several shots of whipped cream. The can changed hands several times. Brother and I just sat there, literally open mouthed; parents did not _do_ this. They then retreated down the hall and into the bathroom to take a shower. Together. :eek: The two of us cleared the table, then sat down in the living to watch TV, and Did Not go anywhere near the hallway – it was a good five feet from the bathroom to their bedroom. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/34 "2019-10-29T19:59:07Z")
A few times in school and again long after; a few years ago. We were at a place, more adult than family dining, and a couple was having an argument. One threw some food item and that person threw something back. About all 50 of us there were aware of it. Someone yelled “Food fight!” and for whatever reason we all went nuts. It really was like in the movies. When we settled our bills most of us paid double without being asked — because we trashed the place and my bets are that they were closed for the rest of the night. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/35 "2019-10-29T21:44:22Z")
> [@Isosleepy](#): > > I was never comfortable with food fights, . . .Maybe because I grew up with a parent who came within days of starving to death in WW2’s Dutch “hunger winter”, but the deliberate waste of food just feels wrong, and in a way, arrogant, to me. . . . Well then, this may not be the thread for you. Please consider passing us by in future. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/36 "2019-10-29T21:53:25Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > In my MSU dorm in the 1970s, yes it happened and I took part. It got so they stopped serving tater tots on Fridays. Tater tots are the best food fight food, just the right size and weight and shape for accuracy. Not just the size and shape but the obvious relationship to the plastic spoon. The heft of the tot to the springiness of the spoon handle, the perfect size of the bowl to the length of the tot; it’s a clear case of production for use. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/37 "2019-10-29T23:50:49Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Well then, this may not be the thread for you. Please consider passing us by in future. I appreciate your trying to help here, but I’m quite comfortable with where and how I post. Thank you though. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/38 "2019-10-30T04:25:27Z")
Hell yeah. And I started high school before Animal House was released. One of the most notorious happened during the last week of school my Junior year. The entire cafeteria went bananas, pun intended. Tons of stuff flying through the air. School staff tried to stop it by turning off the lights (there were no exterior windows so the place turned completely dark) but the grub kept flying. I remember getting beaned with something in the head while it was dark. When the lights came back on there was a peach half stuck under the right lense of my glasses (I wore specs at the time). It must have looked like I had a huge swollen yellow eye. One of my best friends was sitting next to me and he completely lost it when he saw that peach in my glasses. Then there was the day they served baked apples and they were huge. That day saw one of the most brutal food fights in history. Ever getting smacked in the back of the head by a large baked Macintosh? About 50 of us did that day. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/39 "2019-10-30T05:37:15Z")
In elementary school (mid 1970’s) there would be the random flinging of food, and the student would be promptly escorted out of the cafeteria, so it never escalated. My parents, who met in kindergarden, tell the story of THE food fight. It was Lent and there were fish sticks. At the end, there were smashed fish sticks everywhere. That was 1950’s, Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577/40 "2019-10-30T12:44:05Z")
Parkway East Junior High, ~1980. Afterschool ice cream social sponsored by Dr. Schnee soda. If there’s anyone still around who tasted Dr. Schnee, they would know that it was _completely_ justified. … Dr. Schnee later sponsored a swim meet by my swim team. The mascot got pushed into the pool, and the meet had to be suspended because his foam-soda-can costume swelled up with water so he half-floated, half-sank, drowning. Not so much a “food fight” as a “nasty soda fight”, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-ever-been-in-an-actual-food-fight/842577.md?page=3)