On an Empty Stomach

This is an excellent book on the shifts in the provision of food and nutrients in the global aid industry. On an Empty Stomach is both engaging and well written. The book makes us wiser, and deserves to be read by a wide audience.

* Public Anthropologist *

The exceptional range of material treated in this modern history, alongside Scott-Smith's unfailingly sharp analytical lens, render this an essential primer on efforts to feed the hungry in the modern world.

* Gastronomica *

[A]n interesting and, in many respects, revealing book.Scott-Smith is an evocative and clear writer, and his perspective is refreshing.

* Technology and Culture *

[T]he clear-cut framework proposed by Scott-Smith reflects an equilibrated and mindful attitude toward historical narrative. On an Empty Stomach is a book that commands attention in a field of study that has only recently started to develop and gain relevance. By proving himself able to bridge anthropology and history, but also driven by a sincere will to increase awareness among humanitarian nutritionists of the genealogy of their field of work, Tom Scott-Smith has written a convincing book, able to captivate a curious reader.

* H-Soz-Kult *

A lively, readable text. On an Empty Stomach is well written, meticulously detailed, teachable, and engaging. Grounded in close attention to the technologies and knowledges through which humanitarian food is delivered, it will appeal to scholars, students, and practitioners concerned with humanitarianism, development, nutrition, and health.

* Isis Book Review *

Scott-Smith's On an Empty Stomach is a very important contribution to both socio-cultural anthropology and history concerning food relief. This mature study reveals a complex web of circumstances, discoveries, innovations, individual agencies and collective ideologies which shaped the current forms of food relief and approach to human diet Heartily recommended

* Anthropological Journal of European Cultures *