Noodle Narratives And Debt For Sale: Case Study

Cindy Vann
ANTH 2
November 26, 2014 Response Paper # 2 (questions 1 and 3)
What are the main arguments of both Noodle Narratives and Debt for Sale? As the wealthy becomes wealthier the poor becomes poorer. In the Noodle Narratives: The Global Rise of an Industrial Food into the Twenty-First Century, three anthropologists have exposed the shocking and harmful effects instant noodles have on the social economic factors of society as well as the corruption of the food industry. Junk foods like instant noodles are highly consumed over nutritional foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Healthy and nutritional foods are highly expensive, this dilemma is a result for the poor to settle on consuming unhealthy foods, cheap and affordable. Instant

Most credit card companies profit from debt and the individuals that pay off their bills every month, in this case, the lower class in which are paying off significant amounts of interest and fees. The system is intended to lure people into debt and deceive the poor and unfortunate. The inequalities of these systems are purposeful and manipulative, they’re motivation is only for monetary gains. Since the business of giving credit is very profitable, banks, institutions, etc. would go out their way to try and entice potential customers to sign up for credit cards and loans. Nowadays Banks and lending institutions are highly dangerous because of their aggression towards money gains, they venture out beyond their usual consumers, the middle class, and target the lower class as well. The systems of lending money have been part of the American society for so long that we are all trapped in a debt hole in which we may never escape out of. Our inability to grasp the concept of credit scams has made our society even more vulnerable to financial problems. While the lower class sinks in the loophole of debt trying to pay off loans and bills, the companies keep gaining, the poor keeps spending, and the cycle becomes a never-ending

Noodle Narratives connect to the three films we watched in class because both the films and book exemplify on the issue of poverty. The lower class does not make enough money to support their needs and families; therefore they are struggling through poverty. The main argument surfaces around the fact that poverty limits lower class individuals and working families to certain privileges that would benefit them and their health. The dangers they risk on health are increasingly high as majority of poor people are malnourished and unfed. As obesity increases, diabetes increases because of the lack of nutritious meals. Noodle narratives relates to this film called Hungry in the Valley of plenty because the families in Raisin city that cannot afford healthy food rely on cheap junk foods to serve their families. The poor people (college students, low income families, working class) rely on instant noodles to survive and make it through the day, months, and possibly even years. With that being said, the unfortunate, lower class, are the ones with the highest risk of diabetes, obesity because of their lack of income and resources to goods that are beneficial to the health. Debt for Sale relates to the films because the common theme both the films and the book discusses relate to the individuals in the poverty line struggling to make money and paying bills for necessities, being scammed by credit cards, being the target