Ramen noodles are replacing cigarettes as a form of currency in U.S. prisons. It’s not because of bans on tobacco products. To save money, prisons have cut back on the quality and quantity of food they serve.
The rise of ramen as currency in prison signals “punitive frugality,” indicating that the burden and cost of care is shifting away from prison systems and onto prisoners and their support networks, says Michael Gibson-Light, a doctoral candidate in the University of Arizona School of Sociology.
“Punitive frugality is not a formal prison policy, but rather an observable trend in prison administration practice in institutions throughout the country.
“Throughout the nation, we can observe prison cost-cutting and cost-shifting as well as changes in the informal economic practices of inmates. Services are cut back and many costs are passed on to inmates, in an effort to respond to calls to remain both tough on crime and cost effective.”
The new study is part of a larger project investigating the lives of inmate laborers in a male state prison in the United States Sun Belt. During his investigation from May 2015 to May 2016, Gibson-Light conducted interviews with nearly 60 inmates and prison staff members, and also observed prisoners involved in work. Ultimately, he began to study monetary practices among inmates and how they were responding to declining services.
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons reported that states spent about $48.5 billion on corrections in 2010, marking a 5.6 percent decline compared with 2009, and that—dating to 1982—per-capita state corrections expenditures have not kept pace with the number of inmates.
“Prison staff members as well as members of the inmate population provided narratives of the history of changes in prison food. The past few decades have seen steady decreases in the quality and quantity of inmate food,” Gibson-Light says.
Gambling With Ramen
“Prisoners are so unhappy with the quality and quantity of prison food that they receive that they have begun relying on ramen noodles—a cheap, durable food product—as a form of money in the underground economy. Because it is cheap, tasty, and rich in calories, ramen has become so valuable that it is used to exchange for other goods.”
Those other goods include other food items, clothing, hygiene products, and even services such as laundry and bunk cleaning. Prisoners also use ramen noodles as bargaining chips in gambling when playing card games or participating in football pools.
