"Food Fight" news and stories

Parents of 25 Chicago middle schoolers are furious after a cafeteria food fight ended last week with the students' arrest.

The kids, aged 11 to 15, were arrested Thursday after the food fight at Perspectives Charter Schools Calumet Campus on Chicago's South Side, according to reports.

"I saw a tray fly up in the air, and then I saw an orange fly," student Jordan Grevious told CBS2Chicago. 'Then, I heard the words 'food fight.'"

Three people were injured in the food melee, but parents of the arrested children worry that their records will hurt their chances at higher education or a job, the station said.

"These kids are going to have records for things that they potentially did not even do," parent Monique Greene told the station.

The children were held for hours at the police station, charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct, the New York Times said. They've also been suspended for two days from school.

"They're all scared," parent Erica Russell told the Times. "You never know how children will be impacted by that. I was all for some other kind of punishment, but not jail. Who hasn't had a food fight?"

Do you think the punishment fits the crime? Spill it in the comments.

Emily Farris is author of 'Casserole Crazy: Hot Stuff for Your Oven'

Last week on "Good Morning America," Emeril Lagasse accused show host Charlie Gibson (who was not present at the time) of stealing one of his recipes. This might not have been a big deal if the dish -- a chicken enchilada casserole -- had not become the most popular recipe on GMA's Web site. Today Gibson struck back in the blogosphere, defending his culinary prowess and questioning why the renowned Emeril would want to take credit for a recipe based on canned chili, canned tomato sauce and canned enchilada sauce topped with Doritos.

Leaving aside the well-known fact that Doritos are delicious -- especially the Cool Ranch variety, but let's not get distracted here -- as a casserole cookbook author, I'm inclined to take Gibson's side on this one.

Gibson claims he got the recipe from a friend before he ever knew Emeril. And I believe him. I grew up thinking my mom's green-bean casserole was hers. It was creamy on the inside, crunchy on the outside and all-round delicious. Of course my mother had created it! Except she hadn't. When I began to make it myself, I learned it was the Durkee onion can recipe.

In a completely airheaded move, I totally forgot to share some tasty Foodie Flicks yesterday. Therefore, in apology, I've placed myself in the middle of a food fight. But this isn't your everyday food fight. This is all-out World War.

Above you can watch "An abridged history of American-centric warfare, from WWII to present day, told through the foods of the countries in conflict." We've got everything from Hitler's Germany and atomic bombs to the cold war to the twin towers collapsing. It's a really wonderful piece of art, and best of all -- creator Stefan Nadelman actually ate all of the food used in the movie. (I don't know about you, but it bugs me to see tons of food go to waste in the name of art.)

Click here for a rundown of who is being portrayed by each food, and here for a rundown of the battles shown.

When I first spotted this over at the Epi-Log, I thought, "Oh fun, a little video clip with food playing out a battle." But then I started watching and was instantly transfixed. Directed by Stefan Nadelman, this is a thoroughly planned and cleverly conceived film short film about the history of war on this planet over the last 60+ years. The foods are carefully chosen to represent countries and ethnicities (the United States is played by a cast of hamburgers and fries). It runs a little over five minutes long, but it is definitely worth watching.

[via Epi-Log]

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Spain has long been famous for the running of the bulls. While the annual hurling of the tomatoes is waaaay less dangerous, it's certainly as frenzied as that Hemingway-sanctioned ritual.

What!? You don't mean to tell me that you've never heard of La Tomatina, a festival in Valencia where folks wail on each other with more than 100 tons of tomatoes. Me neither, until today.

This year's food fight took place Wednesday. Legend has it that the ritual started 60 years ago when a scuffle between two groups of youths toppled a tomato stand. Regardless of how it all started some facts are certain: this year more than 110 tons of tomatoes were dumped in the town square and 500 showers were set up to cleanse the revelers. With any luck the town will get the streets clean too.

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