The Noodle Narratives

The Global Rise of an Industrial Food into the Twenty-First Century

By: Frederick Errington, Deborah Gewertz, Fuzikura Tatsuro

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Paperback | 2 August 2013 | Edition Number 1

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Paperback
212 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
2.28 x 1.52 x 0.13

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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.

Industry Reviews

"Three anthropologists, intrigued by the presence of instant noodles everywhere from the wealthiest college campuses to the poorest cities of the developing world, decided to chronicle the food's emergence in Japan, the United States, and Papua New Guinea. In their new book, The Noodle Narratives: The Global Rise of an Industrial Food into the Twenty-First Century, Deborah Gewertz of Amherst College, Frederick Errington of Trinity College, and Tatsuro Fujikura at Kyoto University show just how much can depend on one affordable, portable, dehydrated food."

* Boston Globe *
"Ask about the foods that have conquered the world and you're likely to hear about Coca-Cola and McDonald's Big Macs. But the most successful industrial food ever produced flies far under the radar. And it has finally been outed by three anthropologists in a fascinating new book The Noodle Narratives, which analyzes the precipitous rise-or "brilliant career," as the authors say-of instant ramen, from its birth in postwar Japan to its sales of just over 100 billion servings worldwide in 2012." * The Salt *
"This book is a tour of the past, present and future of "one of the most remarkable industrial foods ever," and makes the case that its humble role will become even more important in feeding an increasingly huge human population." * Food Management *

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