{"id":47046,"date":"2016-08-23T14:10:25","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T18:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=47046"},"modified":"2016-08-23T14:10:25","modified_gmt":"2016-08-23T18:10:25","slug":"ramen-is-displacing-tobacco-as-most-popular-us-prison-currency-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=47046","title":{"rendered":"Ramen is displacing tobacco as most popular US prison currency, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cost-cutting measures by private facilities have led to subpar food quality and fewer meals, making noodles a commodity that trades well above its value<\/h3>\n
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Gustavo \u2018Goose\u2019 Alvarez, who spent more than a decade incarcerated, wrote a book on the popularity of ramen in prison called Prison Ramen: Recipes and Stories from Behind Bars. Photograph: Alamy<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ramen noodles are overtaking tobacco as the most popular currency in US prisons<\/a>, according a new study released on Monday.<\/p>\n

A new report by Michael Gibson-Light, a doctoral candidate in the University of Arizona\u2019s school of sociology, found the decline in quality and quantity of food available in prisons due to cost-cutting has made ramen noodles a valuable commodity.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Ramen] is easy to get and it\u2019s high in calories,\u201d Gibson-Light said. \u201cA lot of them, they spend their days working and exercising and they don\u2019t have enough energy to do these things. From there it became more a story, why ramen in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gibson-Light interviewed close to 60 inmates over the course of a year at one state prison as part of a wider study on prison labor. He did not identify the prison to protect the confidentiality of the inmates.<\/p>\n

He found that the instant soup has surpassed tobacco as the most prized currency at the prison. He also analyzed other nationwide investigations that he says found a trend towards using ramen noodles in exchanges.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne way or another, everything in prison is about money,\u201d one soft-spoken prisoner named Rogers said in the report. \u201cSoup is money in here. It\u2019s sad but true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramen noodles have long been known to be a popular dish in prisons. Gustavo \u201cGoose\u201d Alvarez, who spent more than a decade incarcerated on a weapons charge, wrote a book on its popularity, Prison Ramen: Recipes and Stories From Behind Bars.<\/p>\n

He was inspired to write the book after a race riot in 2009 led to a standoff between a group of Hispanic and African American inmates. An older inmate quelled the dispute and the two groups resolved the tensions by cooking a feast together, largely with ramen noodles.<\/p>\n

The book, released last year, includes several recipes such as Ramen Tamale, using Doritos, canned pork and beans, and ramen. It recommends mixing strawberry jelly with soy sauce to make teriyaki, to go with Cheesy Meat Tacos. The book also includes the favorite ramen recipes of celebrities such as Shia LeBeouf and Guns N\u2019 Roses guitarist Slash.<\/p>\n

The study paints a bleak picture of the state of food available at the prison. Gibson-Light found that black-market food became more valuable after control over food preparation switched from one private firm to another in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n