In this grab taken from video, activists react after throwing soup at the glass protecting the Mona Lisa, at the Louvre Museum, Paris, Sunday. Jan. 28, 2024, shouting slogans advocating for a sustainable food system. It comes as French farmers have been protesting for days across the country against several issues, including low wages. (AP Photo/Clement Lanot)
PARIS – Two climate activists hurled soup Sunday at the glass protecting the “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre Museum in Paris and shouted slogans advocating for a sustainable food system.
In a video posted on social media, two women with the words “FOOD RIPOSTE” written on their T-shirts could be seen passing under a security barrier to get closer to the painting and throwing soup at the glass protecting Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece.
“What’s the most important thing?” they shouted. “Art, or right to a healthy and sustainable food?”
“Our farming system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work,” they added.
The Louvre employees could then be seen putting black panels in front of the Mona Lisa and asking visitors to evacuate the room.
Paris police said that two people were arrested following the incident.
On its website, the Food Riposte group said the French government is breaking its climate commitments and called for the equivalent of the country’s state-sponsored health care system to be put in place to give people better access to healthy food while providing farmers a decent income.
Angry French farmers have been using their tractors for days to set up road blockades and slow traffic across France to seek better remuneration for their produce, less red tape and protection against cheap imports. They also dumped stinky agricultural waste at the gates of government offices.
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