On Sunday, two protesters with the Riposte Alimentaire organization threw soup on Leonardo da Vinci's "The Mona Lisa" painting at the Louvre Museum in Paris to demand "the establishment of sustainable food social security."
In a video posted on X, the two women are seen hurling soup at the painting, before ducking under the protective railing. After removing her jacket, the woman started yelling in French, “What’s the most important thing? Art, or the right to healthy and sustainable food?"
"Our farming system is sick. Our Farmers are dying at work," they said.
According to the Daily Mail, two people were arrested in connection to the vandalism. The Louvre said the Salle des Etats, where the famed painting is on display, was evacuated and closed for an hour for cleaning following the action, with the exhibit reopening to visitors around midday.
No damage was done to the painting, the museum confirmed, as the painting is behind armored glass. The museum added that a complaint would be lodged against the protestors.
In a post on X, the organization praised the pair's actions and said they are demanding "sustainable food social security" because "In France, one in three people skip meals due to lack of means." It adds, "At the same time, 20 percent of the food produced is thrown away. Our model stigmatizes the most precarious and does not respect our fundamental right to food."
Riposte Alimentaire claimed that the French agricultural industry is "responsible for two-thirds of inflation," because they are making more profits." They added that the European free-trade treaties create unfair conditions for French farmers in favor of "foreign products that do not meet minimum ecological and social standards."
"Agriculture is responsible for 21 percent of national greenhouse gas emissions and contributes greatly to the deterioration of our biodiversity and the impoverishment of soils, due to the massive use of inputs," the organization said.
This comes as European farmers have protested increased costs across the region. According to Reuters, French protesters dumped produce across the highway on the edges of Paris to demand the continuation of diesel tax brakes for agricultural vehicles, to get subsidies paid to them, guaranteed insurance payments for health and climate issues, and aid for organic farmers and winemakers.
Earlier this month, German Farmers blocked major roads and highways protesting a plan that would abolish diesel tax breaks that farmers rely on to remain profitable. "We can’t carry this additional tax burden," The chairman of the farmers association, Joachim Rukwied, told RBB Inforadio.
