8 ms·

Ramen noodles 'are most valuable US prison commodity', study finds

73 points by wallflower 10y ago

danso 10y ago
Can't believe this article didn't refer to Spread: http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/2012/08/09/making-spread-jail-food-inmate-creativity-and-social-control/ http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/2012/08/09/making-spread... > Finding their jailhouse diet bland, monotonous, and insubstantial, inmates in the California penal system invent alternative meals. “Spread,” the generic term for these creations, describes the inmate-created foods most often built around a single ingredient, instant ramen noodles. Beginning with this noodle base, the inmates concoct variations that approximate their favorite foods on the outside, often those with distinctive flavorings and textures.
- honksillet 10y ago
  On the east coast inmates call these Chichis. Ramen is the base ingredient but they add whatever they can buy off the commissary carts. Chichis are really bad for the inmates with hypertension.
- SlimXero 10y ago
  In Florida they call them Bricks. They add chili, various "pouched" meat (tuna, salmon, etc.), cheese, broken chips, etc.
- bane 10y ago
  Here's a humorous look at some of these recipes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJnwElneS_Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJnwElneS_Q
liaukovv 10y ago
It's the same way in russian prisons
soup10 10y ago
Pretty sad that we treat caged animals better than people. And just like abusing a dog doesn't fix behavioral problems, prisons that punish without rehabilitation don't change people's ways.
- pilsetnieks 10y ago
  Look up factory farming. Zoo animals live in luxury compared to most farm animals. So no, we don't really treat caged animals better than humans. (Both situations are despicable, though.)
  - soup10 10y ago
    Even animals on factory farms get fed.
    - Noseshine 10y ago
      Then we slaughter and eat them :-) So when we feed farm animals we feed ourselves. Feeding inmates would require less selfishly motivated motives...
    - laser 10y ago
      So you'd prefer this to prison? https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=factory+farm https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=factory+farm :P hahaha .... :( .... We need a lot more compassion in the world in general. Is there some technique to make people or the world more compassionate?
Reason077 10y ago
Perhaps prisons should consider serving Ramen noodles for some of their meals? It's hard to imagine anything else is cheaper than dried noodles, especially when purchased in the sort of bulk quantities that prisons would buy. We're talking a few cents per meal. They're easy to prepare and like the article says: "cheap, tasty, and rich in calories".
- xyzzy123 10y ago
  Not very healthy though, instant noodles are deep fried and usually tons of sodium.
  - Coding_Cat 10y ago
    Making non-instant ramen is pretty easy though, especially if you have to feed hundreds of people. It basically amounts to making an asian-spiced soup, throwing in veggies and some soup-meats (or good meat if you're feeling fancy), maybe an egg or two if you can get them on the cheap and add ramen. It's still pretty cheap (depending on what you put in of course), and it's not that bad in terms of nutrients. But hey, it's more expensive than the "bricks 'n goo" they serve these days.
- sushid 10y ago
  They discuss why meals are often bland and unappetizing in this article [1]. > It’s not that the authorities haven’t noticed the blandness. The food lacks strong flavoring and other distinctions by design. To appeal to the widest possible population, spices are added sparingly; even salt is omitted because of some inmates’ dietary restrictions. However, it's also made to be nutritious and I don't think ramen would quality. > While jail food is undeniably bland, it is nutritious, at least according to the standards followed by Title 15 regulations based on Section 6030 of the California Penal Code. [1] http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prisonfood.pdf http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/...
  - DanBC 10y ago
    There's possibly a market for single serving condiments, or for a prison-safe condiment serving machine. EDIT: Or a charity which distributes these.
jernfrost 10y ago
Bizarre how Americans never seem to think prisons are bad enough. As long as there are prisons worse than American ones the prisons are too good. It seems like the thinking is that if prisons don't get bland or disgusting food, then they are rewarding crime. It was actually surprising to read that prisons in my home country Norway, which are significantly more humane are not really much more expensive than American ones. There prisoners often get to cook meals themselves. In some prisons they have their own unit with a proper kitchen. I guess part of the reason American prisons are relatively expensive despite the horrible treatment is that they spend so much money on heavy security measures. Norwegian prisons attempt to create an atmosphere that reduce the propensity for violent behavior and thus reducing the need for heavy fortifications. Being humane can actually be cost effective!
- fredley 10y ago
  But they're bad people, and they must be punished. /s
  - VMG 10y ago
    Why the sarcasm? Is that not true? Do you think deterrence is ineffective?
    - willvarfar 10y ago
      The National Institute for Justice (which is the research, development and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice) says that prison is an ineffective deterent: http://nij.gov/five-things/pages/deterrence.aspx http://nij.gov/five-things/pages/deterrence.aspx
    - kbart 10y ago
      "Do you think deterrence is ineffective?" Not as much as you'd expect. There are plenty of studies that confirm this (I'm too lazy to google them for you). The problem is, that when crimes are done, one does not usually think rationally or does not expect to be caught (or else he wouldn't do that in first place). Another big category of crimes (especially violent ones) are the ones committed out of passion, where severity of sentence does not play significant role either.
pwrzosin 10y ago
Behold His Noodly Appendage! #flyingspaghettimonster
sleepychu 10y ago
> Although the research is based on anecdotal evidence from fewer than 60 inmates and staff from one male state prison, the author points to other findings indicating that the trend toward using ramen noodles for exchanges is evident in other prisons.
contingencies 10y ago
My startup Infinite Food[0] is building a network of automated food preparation and retail service locations based upon robotics, with an initial focus on noodle soups. While we are launching in mainland China, prisons are one of the network locations that we have in mind for international expansion. In a prison context, we see a single purpose, locked-down tablet being lent to prisoners, upon which they can select, customize or create from scratch a meal from a relatively broad range of fresh ingredients, and their cooked meal would be ready to eat within a few minutes. Currently raising seed! [0] http://8-food.com/ http://8-food.com/ Edit: Genuinely curious why this has 5 downvotes and no comments? It's on topic.
- jpatokal 10y ago
  I didn't downvote you, but I presume others did because you're spamming. Also, the Arabic in your multilingual animation is gibberish, because all the letters are in their isolated forms.
  - contingencies 10y ago
    Hrrm, maybe. I personally wouldn't consider it spamming as it's literally a startup in the area of noodle soup, which was the subject. Thanks for the tip though!
    - dang 10y ago
      HN users have varying views on what crosses the line into spamming. I think if your comment had done more engaging with what's intellectually interesting in the current thread, instead of sounding promotional, it would have done better. It's also likely that some HN users are sensitive to the issue of profiting from prisons. It's fine for established HN users to bring up their projects/products in an on-topic way, as long as they don't overdo it participate on HN for more than just that.
jgalt212 10y ago
Per Martin Lawrence and Chris Farley, I always thought it was cigarettes. http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/matt-foley-in-prison/n10551 http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/matt-foley-in-p...
- AjithAntony 10y ago
  In case anyone was unsure, no smoking in prison anymore.
NoGravitas 10y ago
I wonder if they are also used as a starch source for pruno (prison wine).
Maultasche 10y ago
I can confirm this. My wife used to work at a prison in California, and she told me about ramen being used as currency by the inmates. They would refer to ramen packets as "soups". It sounded like the inmates got just enough calories to survive, and often supplemented their diet by purchasing additional food with whatever money was given to them by family or was earned through jobs (which paid 10 cents an hour or something ridiculous like that). Ramen is cheap, has lots of calories, and lasts a long time, making it very popular. They also made their own alcoholic concoctions by storing fruit and various other things in their mouths and spitting it into a plastic bag, letting it ferment over time. That was referred to as "pruno". Pruno was considered contraband and would be confiscated upon discovery, so it was hidden in places like the toilet to prevent discovery. Pruno often turned out to be toxic in some manner, and sometimes made inmates very sick. It didn't stop them from making it though.

73 points by wallflower 10y ago

danso 10y ago

Can't believe this article didn't refer to Spread: http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/2012/08/09/making-spread-jail-food-inmate-creativity-and-social-control/ http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/2012/08/09/making-spread... > Finding their jailhouse diet bland, monotonous, and insubstantial, inmates in the California penal system invent alternative meals. “Spread,” the generic term for these creations, describes the inmate-created foods most often built around a single ingredient, instant ramen noodles. Beginning with this noodle base, the inmates concoct variations that approximate their favorite foods on the outside, often those with distinctive flavorings and textures.

honksillet 10y ago
On the east coast inmates call these Chichis. Ramen is the base ingredient but they add whatever they can buy off the commissary carts. Chichis are really bad for the inmates with hypertension.
SlimXero 10y ago
In Florida they call them Bricks. They add chili, various "pouched" meat (tuna, salmon, etc.), cheese, broken chips, etc.
bane 10y ago
Here's a humorous look at some of these recipes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJnwElneS_Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJnwElneS_Q

liaukovv 10y ago

It's the same way in russian prisons

soup10 10y ago

Pretty sad that we treat caged animals better than people. And just like abusing a dog doesn't fix behavioral problems, prisons that punish without rehabilitation don't change people's ways.

pilsetnieks 10y ago
Look up factory farming. Zoo animals live in luxury compared to most farm animals. So no, we don't really treat caged animals better than humans. (Both situations are despicable, though.)
- soup10 10y ago
  Even animals on factory farms get fed.
  - Noseshine 10y ago
    Then we slaughter and eat them :-) So when we feed farm animals we feed ourselves. Feeding inmates would require less selfishly motivated motives...
  - laser 10y ago
    So you'd prefer this to prison? https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=factory+farm https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=factory+farm :P hahaha .... :( .... We need a lot more compassion in the world in general. Is there some technique to make people or the world more compassionate?

Reason077 10y ago

Perhaps prisons should consider serving Ramen noodles for some of their meals? It's hard to imagine anything else is cheaper than dried noodles, especially when purchased in the sort of bulk quantities that prisons would buy. We're talking a few cents per meal. They're easy to prepare and like the article says: "cheap, tasty, and rich in calories".

xyzzy123 10y ago
Not very healthy though, instant noodles are deep fried and usually tons of sodium.
- Coding_Cat 10y ago
  Making non-instant ramen is pretty easy though, especially if you have to feed hundreds of people. It basically amounts to making an asian-spiced soup, throwing in veggies and some soup-meats (or good meat if you're feeling fancy), maybe an egg or two if you can get them on the cheap and add ramen. It's still pretty cheap (depending on what you put in of course), and it's not that bad in terms of nutrients. But hey, it's more expensive than the "bricks 'n goo" they serve these days.
sushid 10y ago
They discuss why meals are often bland and unappetizing in this article [1]. > It’s not that the authorities haven’t noticed the blandness. The food lacks strong flavoring and other distinctions by design. To appeal to the widest possible population, spices are added sparingly; even salt is omitted because of some inmates’ dietary restrictions. However, it's also made to be nutritious and I don't think ramen would quality. > While jail food is undeniably bland, it is nutritious, at least according to the standards followed by Title 15 regulations based on Section 6030 of the California Penal Code. [1] http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prisonfood.pdf http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/...
- DanBC 10y ago
  There's possibly a market for single serving condiments, or for a prison-safe condiment serving machine. EDIT: Or a charity which distributes these.

jernfrost 10y ago

Bizarre how Americans never seem to think prisons are bad enough. As long as there are prisons worse than American ones the prisons are too good. It seems like the thinking is that if prisons don't get bland or disgusting food, then they are rewarding crime. It was actually surprising to read that prisons in my home country Norway, which are significantly more humane are not really much more expensive than American ones. There prisoners often get to cook meals themselves. In some prisons they have their own unit with a proper kitchen. I guess part of the reason American prisons are relatively expensive despite the horrible treatment is that they spend so much money on heavy security measures. Norwegian prisons attempt to create an atmosphere that reduce the propensity for violent behavior and thus reducing the need for heavy fortifications. Being humane can actually be cost effective!

fredley 10y ago
But they're bad people, and they must be punished. /s
- VMG 10y ago
  Why the sarcasm? Is that not true? Do you think deterrence is ineffective?
  - willvarfar 10y ago
    The National Institute for Justice (which is the research, development and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice) says that prison is an ineffective deterent: http://nij.gov/five-things/pages/deterrence.aspx http://nij.gov/five-things/pages/deterrence.aspx
  - kbart 10y ago
    "Do you think deterrence is ineffective?" Not as much as you'd expect. There are plenty of studies that confirm this (I'm too lazy to google them for you). The problem is, that when crimes are done, one does not usually think rationally or does not expect to be caught (or else he wouldn't do that in first place). Another big category of crimes (especially violent ones) are the ones committed out of passion, where severity of sentence does not play significant role either.

pwrzosin 10y ago

Behold His Noodly Appendage! #flyingspaghettimonster

sleepychu 10y ago

> Although the research is based on anecdotal evidence from fewer than 60 inmates and staff from one male state prison, the author points to other findings indicating that the trend toward using ramen noodles for exchanges is evident in other prisons.

contingencies 10y ago

My startup Infinite Food[0] is building a network of automated food preparation and retail service locations based upon robotics, with an initial focus on noodle soups. While we are launching in mainland China, prisons are one of the network locations that we have in mind for international expansion. In a prison context, we see a single purpose, locked-down tablet being lent to prisoners, upon which they can select, customize or create from scratch a meal from a relatively broad range of fresh ingredients, and their cooked meal would be ready to eat within a few minutes. Currently raising seed! [0] http://8-food.com/ http://8-food.com/ Edit: Genuinely curious why this has 5 downvotes and no comments? It's on topic.

jpatokal 10y ago
I didn't downvote you, but I presume others did because you're spamming. Also, the Arabic in your multilingual animation is gibberish, because all the letters are in their isolated forms.
- contingencies 10y ago
  Hrrm, maybe. I personally wouldn't consider it spamming as it's literally a startup in the area of noodle soup, which was the subject. Thanks for the tip though!
  - dang 10y ago
    HN users have varying views on what crosses the line into spamming. I think if your comment had done more engaging with what's intellectually interesting in the current thread, instead of sounding promotional, it would have done better. It's also likely that some HN users are sensitive to the issue of profiting from prisons. It's fine for established HN users to bring up their projects/products in an on-topic way, as long as they don't overdo it participate on HN for more than just that.

jgalt212 10y ago

Per Martin Lawrence and Chris Farley, I always thought it was cigarettes. http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/matt-foley-in-prison/n10551 http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/matt-foley-in-p...

AjithAntony 10y ago
In case anyone was unsure, no smoking in prison anymore.

NoGravitas 10y ago

I wonder if they are also used as a starch source for pruno (prison wine).

Maultasche 10y ago

I can confirm this. My wife used to work at a prison in California, and she told me about ramen being used as currency by the inmates. They would refer to ramen packets as "soups". It sounded like the inmates got just enough calories to survive, and often supplemented their diet by purchasing additional food with whatever money was given to them by family or was earned through jobs (which paid 10 cents an hour or something ridiculous like that). Ramen is cheap, has lots of calories, and lasts a long time, making it very popular. They also made their own alcoholic concoctions by storing fruit and various other things in their mouths and spitting it into a plastic bag, letting it ferment over time. That was referred to as "pruno". Pruno was considered contraband and would be confiscated upon discovery, so it was hidden in places like the toilet to prevent discovery. Pruno often turned out to be toxic in some manner, and sometimes made inmates very sick. It didn't stop them from making it though.