Occupy Seattle's Pizza Revolution

Revolutions often get colorful names: Czechoslovakia's non-violent revolt against dictatorship and Soviet imperialism was called the "Velvet Revolution." The Republic of Georgia's upheaval of the corrupt, post-communist political elite was the "Rose Revolution." There was the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan, and others throughout the 90s and 00s. Commentators are already searching for appropriate symbols for Egypt and Tunisia's revolutions.

It's too soon to say whether or not the Occupation movement will change society in any way that's permanent or meaningful enough to require a catchy name for posterity, but as a keen observer of the movement, there is something that stands out about Occupy Seattle: these people eat a lot of pizza. There's a wide variety of food at the protests, both home-made by volunteer chefs, and donated delivery from well-wishers. I've seen rice and beans, curry, doughnuts, sandwiches, and stew, but none of them have been able to provoke the level of excitement that ripples through the crowd when a pizza delivery man arrives.

Local pizza joints have gotten wise to the trend: Big Mario's on Capitol Hill is offering a generous discount on pies delivered to Westlake. When a rumor spread that Pagliacci was refusing to deliver to the protest, the company quickly took to its official twitter account to defuse the situation and assure hungry occupiers that their orders would be delivered.

So is this the pizza revolution? Pizza is a democratic food. In such a diverse country, there are few meals that resonate as comfort food among such a broad swath of regional, economic and ethnic groups. Who am I kidding, Steve Carrell said it as Michael Scott much better than I ever could:

If you're a supporter of the movement who can't be at Westlake for whatever reason, or if you're just moved to compassion by the thought of cold, hungry people, the occupiers very much appreciate any warm food, regardless of whether or not it's slathered in delicious, gooey cheese, so please, send what you can.