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

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Errington, Frederick Karl.

Contributor:

Tatsuro, Fuzikura.

Gewertz, Deborah B., 1948-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Noodles industry--Social aspects--Japan.

Noodles industry.

Noodles industry--Social aspects--United States.

Noodles industry--Social aspects--Papua New Guinea.

Noodles--Social aspects--Japan.

Noodles.

Noodles--Social aspects--United States.

Noodles--Social aspects--Papua New Guinea.

Social aspects.

Papua New Guinea.

United States.

Japan.

Physical Description:

ix, 200 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, 2013.

Summary:

Tasty, convenient, and cheap, instant noodles are one of the most remarkable industrial foods ever. Consumed by millions worldwide, they appeal to young and old, affluent and impoverished alike. In this compelling narrative, the authors examine the history, manufacturing, marketing, and consumption of instant noodles. 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 postwar society while undergoing a seemingly endless tweaking of flavors, toppings, and packaging in order to entice consumers, the second market is in the United States, where instant noodles have become important to many groups, including college students, their nostalgic parents, prison inmates, and "heavy users"-chronically hard-pressed Americans targeted by U.S. purveyors. The third and most recent market is in Papua New Guinea, where instant noodles provide cheap food options to the urban poor even as they transform them into aspiring consumers. Finally, this book examines the global "big food" industry. As one of the food system's singular and most successful achievements, instant noodles provide insights into the pros and cons of global capitalist provisioning. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction: Instant noodles as quotidian and ubiquitous

The taste of something good

Japanese instant noodles in the market and on the mind

What instant noodles reflect and affect in America

Instant noodles for the bottom of the pyramid in Papua New Guinea

Making (and unmaking?) a big food world

Conclusion: Big food for a huge population?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780520276338

0520276337

9780520276345

0520276345

OCLC:

819641621