Riches provides a passionate insider’s account of the current system and politics of food banking in OECD countries. Reading this book, it is clear to see how social policy has changed in the advanced capitalist democracies, which, after the Second World War, represented the most socially progressive welfare redistribution systems in the world. Riches’ account forcefully reminds the reader that the old social model is now showing some very big cracks; and food banks, in both their expansion and new public legitimacy, confirm the need for a new vision of social justice and social solidarity where human rights is at the centre of the legal and moral order and the state is the primary actor safeguarding them. Leftover food for leftover people is a key message of modern food banking in this book where hunger has been de-politicised.

As such, Riches reminds us that the issue of food banks in the contemporary welfare context of OECD countries is arguably the most controversial development in the social policy setting of these countries and one that has taken social policy observers by surprise. The support for and use of Food banks in OECD states confirms that we now live in an era where the old divisions between Global North and Global South, Western welfare states and developing countries, no longer stand. Rather it is the logic of rampant neo-liberalism and de-regulation, income inequality and philanthropy, which pervades social and public policy. In this book, Riches calls not just for reinstating the role of the state to support the human right of every human being to income security but he marries this legal right with the need for a moral framework social action built around the human rights discourse. At the helm of this mobilisation, he places civil society as the primary actor duty-bound and capable of holding the state into account.

There are many strengths in Riches’ book but also some important gaps in the analysis, which it is hoped may be treated in a future work. On the strengths side, the book offers a quite detailed analysis of the global food production system and why it does not work fairly and according to human rights principles; how the production of surplus food is part of the logic of the current corporate food production system, which, as Riches consistently recalls in the book, is a dysfunctional system that directs wasted or surplus food to the landfill. To this end, Riches does well to give a global international context to his analysis, which contrasts with the calls in the literature for more equitable and local means of producing food. As such, Riches makes a valuable contribution to the literature through the detailed chronicle he provides of the history of food banks, the influence of Christianity and American Catholic ideas in particular; the global standards that have come into force in the last few decades and the political alliances among states and philanthropists; the international protocols that seek to regulate food banking and the countries that flout these rules; the key players in this field and the monitoring efforts that are in place by the international bodies. Reading through the book, it feels as if one is in conversation with Riches as he wades through the fine detail of the world of food banks. Riches also does well to acknowledge the influence of faith and religion, yet again raising the importance of this issue which has been little addressed in the social policy literature.

Moreover, Riches shows how important the USA has been in leading the way for the spread of food banks among OECD nations and the shocking levels of remuneration that food bank executives receive. The book also further attests to how British social policy is hot on the heels of American social policy, paying little disregard to the voices of discontent there. To this end, food banks in the UK are a re-enactment of the 19^th century poor laws and logic of the deserving poor. Very helpful reference is given to the variations between the USA model of large food banks and tax breaks, and the Canadian or European models – which have also included smaller scale food pantries or charitable outlets. To Riches’ credit, there is repetition of the key points about the dysfunctional food system: he refers to corporate food capture consistently throughout the book and makes clear that the current system of modern food banking persists only because it benefits the big food supermarkets and conglomerates. An innovative argument Riches makes – which may displease supporters of philanthropy and faith-based organisations – is that not all solidarity is positive: solidarity that is a form of charity or corporate social responsibility and leads away from the primary duty of the welfare state towards its citizens is to be cautioned against. Borrowing from the Spanish experience, Riches warns against the false promise of “uncritical solidarity”. In this respect, he does well to call for civil society groups to put pressure on states to hold the system to account. Riches emphasises the importance of human rights as the paramount moral compass of OECD states. He shows how the current system of international regulations does not operate well, since not all countries adhere to it. Above all, hunger is about lack of income security – which is the paramount focus of the book.

But there are also gaps in the analysis: the book reads more like a critique of corporate food power from the outside and it would have been helpful to add insights into how the corporate food system itself needs to be changed. In this sense, the call for mobilization of civil groups and the focus on human rights as a moral and not just legal framework is commendable but only forms part of the struggle to reform the current system. Riches places responsibility on civil society groups but he does not propose ways in which the corporate food system itself can be reformed, since this is part of the wider puzzle of neo-liberal expansion, insecurity and precariousness. There is no mention of more local means of production of food and a reorganisation of the governance structures that underpin the global capitalist system. How the tax exemptions and subsidises that government offers be curbed? A minor stylistic point is that, although the book is written with passion and much detail, there is at times too much information provided and some sections of the text could have been made more coherent.

Otherwise, this is a powerfully-written text, which makes essential reading for students and teachers of social policy and, indeed, activists seeking to understand how to reform the current food banking system in the rich nations of the world.