Often made popular by college students in the US, ramen noodles are helping a greater cause: fighting global hunger. Ramen noodles are one of the most widespread industrial foods produced, reaching 100 billion servings in 2012. Noodle Narratives, a book written by professors Frederick Errington, Deborah Gewertz, and Tatsuro Fujikura focuses on the history and consumption properties of ramen noodles around the world, and also presents some options to make it healthier. Ramen noodles are a conventional, accessible way of helping reduce global hunger, the authors say.
Noodle Narratives focuses on ramen consumers in Japan, the United States, and Papua New Guinea. The book shows that both poorer and richer countries have a high demand for ramen noodles. A cheap food option, ramen’s soup-like qualities can help people feel fuller longer and it can be manipulated in a variety of ways to please different palates. In Papua New Guinea, ramen is served in several meals and according to the online news source Newswise, is “transforming the poor into aspiring consumers of modern goods.”
Noodle Narratives also focuses on ways make ramen a healthier option, and presents ideas just as baking the noodles rather than frying them and replacing salt and MSG with spices. With an ever-growing global population, there is no doubt that industrial food production is important. However, it is equally important to focus on ways to make industrial food production healthier. The main cause of hunger is poverty, but poor health and malnourishment can also lead to poverty because individuals do not have the energy or capability to work well when they are malnourished and weak.
Scientists have begun research on less traditional sources of food in order to help combat the rising level of world hunger. The fastest growing plant – algae and seaweed – and replacing certain meat options with insects are some of these non-conventional options. There is improvement to be made in its health benefits, and too much ramen isn’t great for health, but this food item has reached and helped people around the world receive the food they need to survive.
