When most businesses are upset over the dire economic state of their industry, they file for bankruptcy or try and barter with their government for assistance. But when European farmers are upset over the dire economic state of their industry, they take to the streets and begin shooting milk out of cows' udders at police officers. Really.

It began earlier this month when farmers took to the streets in Brussels outside of the European Council building, where agriculture ministers met to discuss emergency funding for the industry. Those who raise cows for milk production were perhaps the most agitated, after having suffered a 25 percent decline in the price of milk since last year -- the European Milk Board claims that prices are below 75 percent of production prices.

And today, French farmers blocked off the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris by burning tires, fed up with a plunge in their earnings, and demanded a $2.1 billion dollar aid package that includes tax breaks and direct handouts to farms. Farmers across Europe are begging the European Commission not to follow through with its plan to get rid of milk production quotas, with have historically placed caps on the amount of milk that can be produced and thus made the commodity far more expensive.

While there might be an inclination to shrug our shoulders at the indignation of European farmers, it’s long been a priority of European Union authorities to protect its farmers and agriculture industry. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was brought to fruition with the formation of the European Union and the Treaty of Rome back in late 1950's and has remained a unifying force in European politics ever since. Farming, food, and dining are seen as the backbone of European culture and economy, and the governing body of the Union has thus strove to enforce "market unity, community preference and financial solidarity." The CAP system is of such critical importance to the EU that it devotes approximately half of its budget to agricultural subsidies.

“Farmers are furious,” said Padraig Walshe, president of European farm association Copa. “Never before was any sector of agriculture so badly affected. Farmers are going broke. The European Commission and ministers cannot stand idly by.”