Description
If “an army is a creature that marches on its stomach”, as is sometimes attributed to Napoleon, then the different forms and functions of military food must say something about the military understands what war to be and what soldiers need. The evolution of military rations after the RMI illustrates real changes in both the requirements of modern warfare and who the soldiering population might be, and the evolution of humanitarian daily rations and Ready-to-use-therapeutic-food demonstrates the complex politics, political economy, and social theory of humanitarianism. In particular focusing on military and humanitarian provisioning, we find a material trace of changing taste, evolving science and technology, different notions of war, and changing cultural norms.
