I take on that my knowledge of prison economics rests square onShawshank Redemptionmarathons on TNT , but even I know that cigarettes are used as currentness in the clink ( people still call it " the click , " right ? ) . But just as inflation has driven up the dollar on the outside , the prison house economic system has shifted substantially in recent year : tobacco plant has take a backseat to the all-powerful ramen .
According to new enquiry first report byGuardian US , instantaneous soup ( especially the ramen variety ) is now a more valuable bartering tool than tobacco products like coffin nail and dip , at least at the one anonymous prison house that was studied . As one of the 60 + current prisoners surveyed in the report put it , " Soup is money in here . It ’s pitiful but true . ”
The researcher behind the claim , University of Arizona ’s school of sociology doctoral candidateMichael Gibson - Light , asserts that the rise demand in ramen correlate with the declension in the measure and quality of prison house food .
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For source , five cigs or one sweatshirt can be buy for one mob of ramen , which is worth roughly $ 5 in prison house footing . Inmates will also use inner circle of ramen to grease one’s palms bracing vegetable steal from prison house kitchens .
But this research is n’t entirely break down new ground , as the phenomenon already has its own decidedly passionate subculture . Ex - con Gustavo “ Goose ” Alvarez ’s 2015 bookPrison Ramenis entirely consecrate to ramen behind bar , have former and current prisoners ' anecdotes and recipes – like " Ramen Goulash , " and " Ramen Nuggets " – as well as entries from celebrities like Slash and Shia LaBeouf ( who are pretty much always on the threshold of being arrested , themselves ) .
Overall , it ’s a raw reality for sure . Prisoners are so underfed that ramen noodles , the lowest , most wide area connection option on the college food Pyramids of Egypt , are more highly value than cigarettes , which are literally addictive .
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