1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910779885503321

Autore

Errington Frederick Karl

Titolo

The noodle narratives [[electronic resource]] : the global rise of an industrial food into the twenty-first century / / Frederick Errington, Tatsuro Fujikura, and Deborah Gewertz

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, : University of California Press, 2013

ISBN

0-520-27634-5

0-520-95667-2

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (211 p.)

Altri autori (Persone)

TatsuroFuzikura

GewertzDeborah B. <1948->

Disciplina

338.4/7664755

Soggetti

Noodles industry - Social aspects - Japan

Noodles industry - Social aspects - United States

Noodles industry - Social aspects - Papua New Guinea

Noodles - Social aspects - Japan

Noodles - Social aspects - United States

Noodles - Social aspects - Papua New Guinea

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Illustrations and Table -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Instant Noodles as Quotidian and Ubiquitous -- 1. The Taste of Something Good -- 2. Japanese Instant Noodles in the Market and on the Mind -- 3. What Instant Noodles Reflect and Affect in America -- 4. Instant Noodles for the Bottom of the Pyramid in Papua New Guinea -- 5. Making (and Unmaking?) a Big Food World -- Conclusion: Big Food for a Huge Population? -- Notes -- References -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Tasty, convenient, and cheap, instant noodles are one of the most remarkable industrial foods ever. Consumed around the world by millions, they appeal to young and old, affluent and impoverished alike. The authors examine the history, manufacturing, marketing, and consumption of instant noodles. By focusing on three specific markets, they reveal various ways in which these noodles enable diverse populations to manage their lives. The first market is in Japan, where



instant noodles have facilitated a major transformation of post-war society, while undergoing a seemingly endless tweaking in flavors, toppings, and packaging in order to entice consumers. The second is in the United States, where instant noodles have become important to many groups including college students, their nostalgic parents, and prison inmates. The authors also take note of "heavy users," a category of the chronically hard-pressed targeted by U.S. purveyors. The third is in Papua New Guinea, where instant noodles arrived only recently and are providing cheap food options to the urban poor, all the while transforming them into aspiring consumers. Finally, this study examines the global "Big Food" industry. As one of the food system's singular achievements, the phenomenon of instant noodles provides insight into the pros and cons of global capitalist provisioning.