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* The eponymous ''{{Naruto}}'' eats instant ramen most of the time, because that's all he can afford. (It helps that [[TrademarkFavoriteFood he likes it]], too.) He considers ramen from Ichiraku's Ramen Stand to be one of [[MundaneLuxury "the finer things in life,"]] and is always delighted when someone treats him to ramen from there (or when he can actually afford it.)
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* The eponymous ''{{Naruto}}'' ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' eats instant ramen most of the time, because that's all he can afford. (It helps that [[TrademarkFavoriteFood he likes it]], too.) He considers ramen from Ichiraku's Ramen Stand to be one of [[MundaneLuxury "the finer things in life,"]] and is always delighted when someone treats him to ramen from there (or when he can actually afford it.)
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* The eponymous ''{{Naruto}}'' eats instant ramen most of the time, because that's all he can afford. (It helps that [[TrademarkFavoriteFood he likes it]], too.) He considers ramen from Ichiraku's Ramen Stand to be one of [[MundaneLuxury "the finer things in life,"]] and is always delighted when someone treats him to ramen from there (or when he can actually afford it.)
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In RealLife the types of food eaten during hard times often become stigmatized in the times of plenty, turning into a kind of a StockYuck in that particular culture. This happens not only because people often resort to eating something [[ReducedToRatburgers they hardly]] [[DogFoodDiet consider palatable]], but also because of psychological [[RamenAsDehydratedNoodles association of eating certain types of food with poverty]].
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In RealLife the types of food eaten during hard times often become stigmatized in the times of plenty, turning into a kind of a StockYuck in that particular culture. This happens not only because people often resort to eating something [[ReducedToRatburgers they hardly]] [[DogFoodDiet hardly consider palatable]], palatable, but also because of psychological [[RamenAsDehydratedNoodles association of eating certain types of food with poverty]].
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* Beleive it or not, there was a time when hot dogs were an inexpensive commodity during TheGreatDepression. There was even a recipe named "billionaire's casserole".
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* Beleive Believe it or not, there was a time when hot dogs were an inexpensive commodity during TheGreatDepression. There was even a recipe named "billionaire's casserole".casserole".
* Some take this trope so much to heart that they consider people who eat more palatable food as not really being poor. This particularly ignores the availability of cheap fast food, which is a lot more convenient for someone working long shifts far from home than cooking up a pot of gruel.
* Some take this trope so much to heart that they consider people who eat more palatable food as not really being poor. This particularly ignores the availability of cheap fast food, which is a lot more convenient for someone working long shifts far from home than cooking up a pot of gruel.
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* Beleive it or not, there was a time when hot dogs were an inexpensive commodity during TheGreatDepression. There was even a recipe named "billionaire's casserole".
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Poverty Food is usually portrayed as an unappetizing, bleak and gloppy substance. TruthInTelevision in the sense that mush-like meals are cheap and easy to make while still being sufficiently nutritious. If it's not gruel, expect poor people to chew on (dried) bread or slurp instant ramen.
to:
Poverty Food is usually portrayed as an unappetizing, bleak and gloppy substance. TruthInTelevision in the sense that mush-like meals are cheap and easy to make while still being sufficiently nutritious. If it's not gruel, expect poor people to chew on (dried) bread or slurp eat instant ramen.
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* In the UsefulNotes/Philippines, poor people scavenged leftover or expired food thrown by restaurants and supermarkets from garbage dumps and sites which is called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagpag "pagpag"]]. And depending on the condition, the ''pagpag'' can be cooked by frying it in hot oil and it can be sold to other poor people.
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* In the UsefulNotes/Philippines, UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}, poor people scavenged leftover or expired food thrown by restaurants and supermarkets from garbage dumps and sites which is called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagpag "pagpag"]]. And depending on the condition, the ''pagpag'' can be cooked by frying it in hot oil and it can be sold to other poor people.
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[[AC: Real Life]]
* In the UsefulNotes/Philippines, poor people scavenged leftover or expired food thrown by restaurants and supermarkets from garbage dumps and sites which is called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagpag "pagpag"]]. And depending on the condition, the ''pagpag'' can be cooked by frying it in hot oil and it can be sold to other poor people.
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In the RealLife the types of food eaten during hard times often become stigmatized in the times of plenty, turning into a kind of a StockYuck in that particular culture. This happens not only because people often resort to eating something [[ReducedToRatburgers they hardly]] [[DogFoodDiet consider palatable]], but also because of psychological [[RamenAsDehydratedNoodles association of eating certain types of food with poverty]].
to:
In the RealLife the types of food eaten during hard times often become stigmatized in the times of plenty, turning into a kind of a StockYuck in that particular culture. This happens not only because people often resort to eating something [[ReducedToRatburgers they hardly]] [[DogFoodDiet consider palatable]], but also because of psychological [[RamenAsDehydratedNoodles association of eating certain types of food with poverty]].
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In the RealLife the types of food eaten during hard times often become stigmatized in the times of plenty, turning into a kind of a StockYuck in that particular culture. This happens not only because people often resort to eating something [[ReducedToRatburgers they hardly]] [[DogFoodDiet consider palatable]], but also because of psychological [[RamenAsDehydratedNoodles association of eating certain types of food with poverty]].
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** In Judaic law, which otherwise bans the eating of insects as un-Kosher, specifically exempts locusts--mostly so that the poor people will have something to eat during famines and locust infestations.
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** In ''Literature/JaneEyre'', Jane's first morning at Lowood features burnt porridge, with the implication that this isn't the first time it's happened. When the superintendent of the school provides a substitute meal of bread and cheese, the minister in charge finds out and scolds her for providing such "luxury" to the pupils instead of using the opportunity to teach them the "Christian value" of starvation. The minister is eventually found to be embezzling funds from the school and is replaced, though sadly not until after a student actually dies.
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** In ''Literature/JaneEyre'', Jane's first morning at Lowood features burnt porridge, with the implication that this isn't the first time it's happened. When the superintendent of the school provides a substitute meal of bread and cheese, the minister in charge finds out and scolds her for providing such "luxury" to the pupils instead of using the opportunity to teach them the "Christian value" of starvation. The minister is eventually found to be embezzling funds from the school and is replaced, though sadly not until after a student actually dies.
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* Jebidiah "Cookie" Farnsworth from Disney's ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' serves up lumpy ooze to the survivors, who have no alternative except to choke it down. Cookie earlier stated that the four food groups are: "beans, bacon, whiskey and lard," thus dinner looks to be some unholy mixture of those ingredients.
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* Jebidiah "Cookie" Farnsworth from Disney's ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' serves up lumpy ooze to the survivors, who have no alternative except to choke it down. Cookie earlier stated that the four food groups are: "beans, bacon, whiskey and lard," thus dinner looks to be some unholy mixture of those ingredients.
ingredients. Bizarrely, his circumstances are about as far from "poverty" as possible - he's a hand picked member of a massive expedition being bankrolled by a billionaire - he's just ''very'' set in his ways.
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* Scott from ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' grew up on a dirt farm and subsisted almost entirely on this kind of food. He actually prefers foods such as gruel or moldy bread over anything else and will even gladly eat dirt.
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* In Jill Pinkwater's ''The Disappearance of Sister Perfect'', the heroine infiltrates a cult and is put off by the cheap, institutional food (chipped beef, peas, and mashed potatoes, all described in the most unappetizing terms). It sticks to the roof of her mouth, which is too bad, because cult members are forbidden from drinking until ''after'' they have finished their food. The drink itself is described by one character as "instant flavored sugar water cheaper than juice."
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* In Jill Pinkwater's ''The Disappearance of Sister Perfect'', the heroine infiltrates a cult and is put off by the cheap, institutional food (chipped beef, peas, and mashed potatoes, all described in the most unappetizing terms). It sticks to the roof of her mouth, which is too bad, because cult members are forbidden from drinking until ''after'' they have finished their food. The drink itself is described by one character as "instant flavored sugar water -- cheaper than juice."
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* ReducedToRatburgers: A famished character resorts to eating rats and the like.
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* ReducedToRatburgers: A famished character resorts to eating rats and the like.or similar vermin.
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See MessOnAPlate and MysteryMeat when the focus is on the visual and tasting experience of the food rather than the social implications of a dire meal.
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See MessOnAPlate and MysteryMeat when the focus is on the visual and tasting experience of the food rather than the social implications of a dire meal. Contrast FoodPorn.
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When food is being used to transport a message about the social status or [[BrokeEpisode life situation]] of a character. On one end of the SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty we have GrapesOfLuxury to indicate an [[TheBeautifulElite upper class]] environment. On the other end of the spectrum we have Poverty Food for [[WrongSideOfTheTracks lowlifes]], [[OrphanageOfFear neglected orphans]] and [[HellHolePrison prison inmates]] and {{Starving Artist}}s.
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When food is being used to transport a message about the social status or [[BrokeEpisode life situation]] of a character. On one end of the SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty we have GrapesOfLuxury to indicate an [[TheBeautifulElite upper class]] environment. On the other end of the spectrum we have Poverty Food for [[WrongSideOfTheTracks lowlifes]], [[OrphanageOfFear neglected orphans]] and orphans]], [[HellHolePrison prison inmates]] and {{Starving Artist}}s.
{{starving artist}}s.
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When food is being used to transport a message about the social status or [[BrokeEpisode life situation]] of a character. On one end of the SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty we have GrapesOfLuxury to indicate an [[TheBeautifulElite upper class]] environment. On the other end of the spectrum we have Poverty Food for [[WrongSideOfTheTracks lowlifes]], [[OrphanageOfFear neglected orphans]] and [[HellHolePrison prison inmates]].
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When food is being used to transport a message about the social status or [[BrokeEpisode life situation]] of a character. On one end of the SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty we have GrapesOfLuxury to indicate an [[TheBeautifulElite upper class]] environment. On the other end of the spectrum we have Poverty Food for [[WrongSideOfTheTracks lowlifes]], [[OrphanageOfFear neglected orphans]] and [[HellHolePrison prison inmates]].
inmates]] and {{Starving Artist}}s.
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When food is being used to transport a message about the social status or life situation of a character. On one end of the SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty we have GrapesOfLuxury to indicate an [[TheBeautifulElite upper class]] environment. On the other end of the spectrum we have Poverty Food for [[WrongSideOfTheTracks lowlifes]], [[OrphanageOfFear neglected orphans]] and [[HellHolePrison prison inmates]].
to:
When food is being used to transport a message about the social status or [[BrokeEpisode life situation situation]] of a character. On one end of the SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty we have GrapesOfLuxury to indicate an [[TheBeautifulElite upper class]] environment. On the other end of the spectrum we have Poverty Food for [[WrongSideOfTheTracks lowlifes]], [[OrphanageOfFear neglected orphans]] and [[HellHolePrison prison inmates]].
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Staple for any BrokeEpisode. See MessOnAPlate and MysteryMeat when the focus is on the visual and tasting experience of the food rather than the social implications of a dire meal.
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Supertrope to a number of scenarios wherein characters struggle with the quality of their diet (in ascending order of grossness):
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Supertrope to a number of scenarios wherein characters struggle with the quality of their diet (in diet. In ascending order of grossness):grossness:
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Expect this to appear in a BrokeEpisode. See MessOnAPlate and MysteryMeat when the focus is on the visual and tasting experience of the food rather than the social implications of a dire meal.
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See MessOnAPlate and MysteryMeat when the focus is on the visual and tasting experience of the food rather than the social implications of a dire meal.
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Expect this to appear in a BrokeEpisode. See MessOnAPlate and MysteryMeat when the focus is on the visual and tasting experience of the food rather than the social implications of a dire meal.
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!!Examples
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[[AC:{{Film}}]]
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* Jebidiah "Cookie" Farnsworth from Disney's ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' serves up lumpy ooze to the survivors, who have no alternative except to choke it down. Cookie earlier stated that the four food groups are: "beans, bacon, whiskey and lard," thus dinner looks to be some unholy mixture of those ingredients.
[[AC:Films -- Live-Action]]
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* In ''Film/BetterOffDead'', the mother is spooning grey-green goo (with raisins!) directly onto Lane's plate. He pokes it with his fork and it crawls away.
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* Played for laughs in ''Film/TheGrandBudapestHotel'', where the imprisoned hero wheels a cart around the cell block in the morning, offering mush to inmates.
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* Played for laughs in ''Film/TheGrandBudapestHotel'', where the imprisoned hero gentleman-protagonist wheels a cart around the cell block in the morning, offering mush to inmates.
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* ''Film/{{Together}}'' is set in a Stockholm commune where cooked porridge is served on a regular basis for economical reasons, much to the kids' dismay. Goeran tries to sugarcoat the meal to them by comparing the porridge to commune life:
--> '''Goeran''': You could say that we are like porridge. First we're like small oatflakes. Small, dry, fragile, alone... but then we're cooked with the other oatflakes and become soft. We join so that one flake can't be told apart from another. We're almost dissolved. Together we become a big porridge... that's warm, tasty and nutritious, and yes, quite beautiful, too.
--> '''Goeran''': You could say that we are like porridge. First we're like small oatflakes. Small, dry, fragile, alone... but then we're cooked with the other oatflakes and become soft. We join so that one flake can't be told apart from another. We're almost dissolved. Together we become a big porridge... that's warm, tasty and nutritious, and yes, quite beautiful, too.
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* ''Film/{{Together}}'' is set in a Stockholm commune where cooked porridge is served on a regular basis for economical reasons, much to the kids' dismay. Goeran Göran tries to sugarcoat the meal to them by comparing the porridge to commune life:
-->'''Goeran''': '''Göran''': You could say that we are like porridge. First we're like small oatflakes. Small, dry, fragile, alone... but then we're cooked with the other oatflakes and become soft. We join so that one flake can't be told apart from another. We're almost dissolved. Together we become a big porridge... that's warm, tasty and nutritious, and yes, quite beautiful, too.
-->
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* In Jill Pinkwater's ''The Disappearance of Sister Perfect'', the heroine infiltrates a cult and is put off by the cheap, institutional food (chipped beef, peas, and mashed potatoes, all described in the most unappetizing terms). It sticks to the roof of her mouth, which is too bad, because cult members are forbidden from drinking until ''after'' they have finished their food. The drink itself is described by one character as "instant flavored sugar water cheaper than juice."
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* In Jill Pinkwater's ''The Disappearance of Sister Perfect'', the heroine infiltrates a cult and is put off by the cheap, institutional food (chipped beef, peas, and mashed potatoes, all described in the most unappetizing terms). It sticks to the roof of her mouth, which is too bad, because cult members are forbidden from drinking until ''after'' they have finished their food. The drink itself is described by one character as "instant flavored sugar water water cheaper than juice."
Deleted line(s) 71 (click to see context) :
* Jebidiah "Cookie" Farnsworth from Disney's ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' serves up lumpy ooze to the survivors, who have no alternative except to choke it down. Cookie earlier stated that the four food groups are: "beans, bacon, whiskey and lard," thus dinner looks to be some unholy mixture of those ingredients.
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Poverty Food is usually portrayed as an unappetizing, bleak and gloppy substance. TruthInTelevision in the sense that mush-like meals are cheap and easy to make while still being sufficiently nutritious.
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Poverty Food is usually portrayed as an unappetizing, bleak and gloppy substance. TruthInTelevision in the sense that mush-like meals are cheap and easy to make while still being sufficiently nutritious.
nutritious. If it's not gruel, expect poor people to chew on (dried) bread or slurp instant ramen.
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[[AC:Music]]
* "The Hunger Within" by Music/{{Psychostick}} is a metal song about man craving various foods but being too poor to eat much besides foods such as dry cereal or ramen.
--> "I wish I had a taco with plenty of hot sauce, but all that I've got is a box of crackers."
* "The Hunger Within" by Music/{{Psychostick}} is a metal song about man craving various foods but being too poor to eat much besides foods such as dry cereal or ramen.
--> "I wish I had a taco with plenty of hot sauce, but all that I've got is a box of crackers."
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* DogFoodDiet: A fallen-on-hard-times character ends up eating dog food out of a can.
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* DogFoodDiet: A fallen-on-hard-times character ends up eating canned dog food out of a can.food.
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Robocop's diet is not related to poverty.
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* A porridge-like sludge is the sole staple of the first ''Film/{{Robocop}}'' from [=OCP=]; his mechanized innards can't process any other foodstuffs. The police captain samples the stuff and takes a liking to it.
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* ''Film/{{Together}} is set in a Stockholm commune where cooked porridge is served on a regular basis for economical reasons, much to the kids' dismay. Goeran tries to sugarcoat the meal to them by comparing the porridge to commune life:
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* ''Film/{{Together}} ''Film/{{Together}}'' is set in a Stockholm commune where cooked porridge is served on a regular basis for economical reasons, much to the kids' dismay. Goeran tries to sugarcoat the meal to them by comparing the porridge to commune life:
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* In Jill Pinkwater's ''The Disappearance of Sister Perfect'', the heroine infiltrates a cult and is put off by the cheap, institutional food (chipped beef, peas, and mashed potatoes, all described in the most unappetizing terms). It sticks to the roof of her mouth, which is too bad, because cult members are forbidden from drinking until ''after'' they have finished their food. The drink itself is described by one character as "instant flavored sugar water  cheaper than juice."
to:
* In Jill Pinkwater's ''The Disappearance of Sister Perfect'', the heroine infiltrates a cult and is put off by the cheap, institutional food (chipped beef, peas, and mashed potatoes, all described in the most unappetizing terms). It sticks to the roof of her mouth, which is too bad, because cult members are forbidden from drinking until ''after'' they have finished their food. The drink itself is described by one character as "instant flavored sugar water  water cheaper than juice."
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Created from YKTTW
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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheKid1921 http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_kid_sludge.jpg]]]]
->''"Grease, fried dough, pig fat and sorghum. And you better get to like it ... because you're going to get the same thing every morning, every year."''
-->-- '''Fellow inmate''', ''Film/IAmAFugitiveFromAChainGang''
When food is being used to transport a message about the social status or life situation of a character. On one end of the SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty we have GrapesOfLuxury to indicate an [[TheBeautifulElite upper class]] environment. On the other end of the spectrum we have Poverty Food for [[WrongSideOfTheTracks lowlifes]], [[OrphanageOfFear neglected orphans]] and [[HellHolePrison prison inmates]].
Poverty Food is usually portrayed as an unappetizing, bleak and gloppy substance. TruthInTelevision in the sense that mush-like meals are cheap and easy to make while still being sufficiently nutritious.
Supertrope to a number of scenarios wherein characters struggle with the quality of their diet (in ascending order of grossness):
* EvenTheRatsWontTouchIt: An animal reaction is used to convey the distastefulness of the food.
* DogFoodDiet: A fallen-on-hard-times character ends up eating dog food out of a can.
* ReducedToRatburgers: A famished character resorts to eating rats and the like.
* EatingShoes: When nothing is left to eat, a character will turn to anything in sight, preferably shoes.
See MessOnAPlate and MysteryMeat when the focus is on the visual and tasting experience of the food rather than the social implications of a dire meal.
----
!!Examples
[[AC:Anime and Manga]]
* Dick Gumshoe of ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' likes eating instant ramen because he's almost always broke.
[[AC:FanFiction]]
* Many a ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' fanfic that exaggerates [[{{Tsundere}} Akane Tendou]]'s LethalChef credentials make the results of her "cooking" be some variation of horrible-tasting and/or toxic goop, which may or may not have attained some sort of unlife and/or possess EldritchAbomination-like tentacles.
[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''Film/TheKid1921'' has a scene where the Tramp dishes up an undefinable mass from a disgustingly messy pot.
* In ''Film/BetterOffDead'', the mother is spooning grey-green goo (with raisins!) directly onto Lane's plate. He pokes it with his fork and it crawls away.
* In ''Film/TheMatrix'', the crew is being served ''economical'' grey mush which is not very satisfying. It's one of the reasons why [[spoiler:Cypher]] commits a FaceHeelTurn, so he could once again get to taste delicious food, if only as an illusion inside the matrix.
* ''Film/LifeOfPi'' has a grumpy cook (played by Creator/GerardDepardieu) in a sleazy galley serving his gravy-rich stodge to the ship's lower deck passengers.
* Played for laughs in ''Film/TheGrandBudapestHotel'', where the imprisoned hero wheels a cart around the cell block in the morning, offering mush to inmates.
* ''Film/IvansChildhood'' is set in a CrapsackWorld at the Eastern Front during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. In one scene we see Ivan and two befriended officers of the Russian army eating a mushy meal out of brass bowls.
* A porridge-like sludge is the sole staple of the first ''Film/{{Robocop}}'' from [=OCP=]; his mechanized innards can't process any other foodstuffs. The police captain samples the stuff and takes a liking to it.
* In ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' everyone eats sludge and/or goo. In high class Fine Dining restaurants they provide a picture of a good meal with the sludge, to show what you are theoretically eating.
* In ''Film/TheLittleRascals'' short "Mush and Milk" the gang are all living in a boarding school run by an old man who serves mush & (spoiled) milk every day because he doesn't have any money. He's waiting for his pension to come in. Once his pension comes in he treats the kids to a high class meal...which turns out to be porridge.
* The prison inmates in ''Film/IAmAFugitiveFromAChainGang'' get a disgusting dish of grease, fried dough, pig fat and sorghum to eat, day in and day out, which the [[MiscarriageOfJustice wrongfully convicted]] hero has a hard time adjusting to.
* ''Film/{{Together}} is set in a Stockholm commune where cooked porridge is served on a regular basis for economical reasons, much to the kids' dismay. Goeran tries to sugarcoat the meal to them by comparing the porridge to commune life:
--> '''Goeran''': You could say that we are like porridge. First we're like small oatflakes. Small, dry, fragile, alone... but then we're cooked with the other oatflakes and become soft. We join so that one flake can't be told apart from another. We're almost dissolved. Together we become a big porridge... that's warm, tasty and nutritious, and yes, quite beautiful, too.
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* TropeCodifier (if not TropeMaker) is probably Charles Dickens's novel ''Literature/OliverTwist'' with his 3 thin bowls of gruel a day.
* OlderThanFeudalism: In Literature/TheBible, God provides "manna" to feed the Israelites on their journey out of Egypt. It's described as having the appearance of tree gum and tasting like wafers and honey. They live on it for 40 years. The Israelites appreciated the manna at first but got weary of eating the same thing all the time.
* In ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', Charlie's destitute family subsists on grey "cabbage water" and, when they're really lucky, the occasional loaf of bread.
* In ''Literature/TheZombieKnight'', Colt's cooking is like this, although it actually tastes okay.
-->'''Hector:''' What's in this?
-->'''Colt:''' Gravy.
-->'''Hector:''' And?
-->'''Colt:''' AndSomeOtherStuff.
-->'''Hector:''' What other stuff?
-->'''Colt:''' Just be glad I'm good at making gravy.
* In Jill Pinkwater's ''The Disappearance of Sister Perfect'', the heroine infiltrates a cult and is put off by the cheap, institutional food (chipped beef, peas, and mashed potatoes, all described in the most unappetizing terms). It sticks to the roof of her mouth, which is too bad, because cult members are forbidden from drinking until ''after'' they have finished their food. The drink itself is described by one character as "instant flavored sugar water  cheaper than juice."
* When the companions posing as poor travelers in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' aren't eating food from seedy inns, or leftovers from their last stop, or burning bacon to a crisp, they resort to eating gruel.
--> '''Silk''': I hate gruel.
* In ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel'' and the sequels, the lowest classes have to substitute on some bland yeast mush. The entire Earth qualifies, in a way, being poor and overcrowded compared to the rich and spoiled Spacers - even natural food, rather than yeast, is always eaten processed, and only in Spacer cuisine does one encounter things like whole apples, eggs with visible yolk, etc.
[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* In an episode of ''Series/JohnnyBago'', Johnny is forced to join a traveling circus. The ringmaster is a blackmailer who is forcing all the workers to work for him for free, and feeds them leftovers from the previous day's crowd all mixed together. It's served in scoops of brown ''blech''.
* In ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' the crew primarily subsists on a grey sludge extruded by the titular LivingShip through a rather disturbingly-shaped dispenser.
* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Leslie Winkle and other characters have been heard to remark instant ramen fulfills this function when the need for food coincides with a near-total absence of cash.
[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken''. In "Confused", Cow and Chicken are sent to military school, where for chow they are served yellowish-brown goop to eat out of their helmets, which Red Guy (as their Drill Sergeant) says is beans and biscuits.
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory''. In "Misplaced in Space", Dexter finds himself in an alien prison, where he's served what he accurately refers to as, "a bowl of foul-smelling gruel", but tries to play up his faux gratitude by complimenting the chef. Luckily for him, however, an alien inmate with an insatiable appetite consumes Dexter's bowl for him.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Tommy wishes for everyone to be the same, including grey mush for food. It chime with the rest of the "everything is grey and homogeneous and boring" theme of the episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Ron complains about the indeterminate "pudding" served by the school cafeteria, which is contrasted with the fine fare served at the "senior table".
* Johnny Hart's cavemen appeared in an AnimatedAdaptation of their comic strip ''ComicStrip/{{BC}}: The First Thanksgiving'' in 1973. After failing to catch a turkey for dinner, the men had to make do with rock soup. Fat Broad ladled moist rocks onto their plates. It made for one grim meal.
* Jebidiah "Cookie" Farnsworth from Disney's ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' serves up lumpy ooze to the survivors, who have no alternative except to choke it down. Cookie earlier stated that the four food groups are: "beans, bacon, whiskey and lard," thus dinner looks to be some unholy mixture of those ingredients.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'', the staple diet of Thembria is "gruel", it looks like something use as glue more than food. When Balou is trapped in a Thembrian prison camp, he's roped into a plot by one of the inmates to blow of Thembria's "Strategic Gruel Reserves".
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->''"Grease, fried dough, pig fat and sorghum. And you better get to like it ... because you're going to get the same thing every morning, every year."''
-->-- '''Fellow inmate''', ''Film/IAmAFugitiveFromAChainGang''
When food is being used to transport a message about the social status or life situation of a character. On one end of the SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty we have GrapesOfLuxury to indicate an [[TheBeautifulElite upper class]] environment. On the other end of the spectrum we have Poverty Food for [[WrongSideOfTheTracks lowlifes]], [[OrphanageOfFear neglected orphans]] and [[HellHolePrison prison inmates]].
Poverty Food is usually portrayed as an unappetizing, bleak and gloppy substance. TruthInTelevision in the sense that mush-like meals are cheap and easy to make while still being sufficiently nutritious.
Supertrope to a number of scenarios wherein characters struggle with the quality of their diet (in ascending order of grossness):
* EvenTheRatsWontTouchIt: An animal reaction is used to convey the distastefulness of the food.
* DogFoodDiet: A fallen-on-hard-times character ends up eating dog food out of a can.
* ReducedToRatburgers: A famished character resorts to eating rats and the like.
* EatingShoes: When nothing is left to eat, a character will turn to anything in sight, preferably shoes.
See MessOnAPlate and MysteryMeat when the focus is on the visual and tasting experience of the food rather than the social implications of a dire meal.
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!!Examples
[[AC:Anime and Manga]]
* Dick Gumshoe of ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' likes eating instant ramen because he's almost always broke.
[[AC:FanFiction]]
* Many a ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' fanfic that exaggerates [[{{Tsundere}} Akane Tendou]]'s LethalChef credentials make the results of her "cooking" be some variation of horrible-tasting and/or toxic goop, which may or may not have attained some sort of unlife and/or possess EldritchAbomination-like tentacles.
[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''Film/TheKid1921'' has a scene where the Tramp dishes up an undefinable mass from a disgustingly messy pot.
* In ''Film/BetterOffDead'', the mother is spooning grey-green goo (with raisins!) directly onto Lane's plate. He pokes it with his fork and it crawls away.
* In ''Film/TheMatrix'', the crew is being served ''economical'' grey mush which is not very satisfying. It's one of the reasons why [[spoiler:Cypher]] commits a FaceHeelTurn, so he could once again get to taste delicious food, if only as an illusion inside the matrix.
* ''Film/LifeOfPi'' has a grumpy cook (played by Creator/GerardDepardieu) in a sleazy galley serving his gravy-rich stodge to the ship's lower deck passengers.
* Played for laughs in ''Film/TheGrandBudapestHotel'', where the imprisoned hero wheels a cart around the cell block in the morning, offering mush to inmates.
* ''Film/IvansChildhood'' is set in a CrapsackWorld at the Eastern Front during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. In one scene we see Ivan and two befriended officers of the Russian army eating a mushy meal out of brass bowls.
* A porridge-like sludge is the sole staple of the first ''Film/{{Robocop}}'' from [=OCP=]; his mechanized innards can't process any other foodstuffs. The police captain samples the stuff and takes a liking to it.
* In ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' everyone eats sludge and/or goo. In high class Fine Dining restaurants they provide a picture of a good meal with the sludge, to show what you are theoretically eating.
* In ''Film/TheLittleRascals'' short "Mush and Milk" the gang are all living in a boarding school run by an old man who serves mush & (spoiled) milk every day because he doesn't have any money. He's waiting for his pension to come in. Once his pension comes in he treats the kids to a high class meal...which turns out to be porridge.
* The prison inmates in ''Film/IAmAFugitiveFromAChainGang'' get a disgusting dish of grease, fried dough, pig fat and sorghum to eat, day in and day out, which the [[MiscarriageOfJustice wrongfully convicted]] hero has a hard time adjusting to.
* ''Film/{{Together}} is set in a Stockholm commune where cooked porridge is served on a regular basis for economical reasons, much to the kids' dismay. Goeran tries to sugarcoat the meal to them by comparing the porridge to commune life:
--> '''Goeran''': You could say that we are like porridge. First we're like small oatflakes. Small, dry, fragile, alone... but then we're cooked with the other oatflakes and become soft. We join so that one flake can't be told apart from another. We're almost dissolved. Together we become a big porridge... that's warm, tasty and nutritious, and yes, quite beautiful, too.
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* TropeCodifier (if not TropeMaker) is probably Charles Dickens's novel ''Literature/OliverTwist'' with his 3 thin bowls of gruel a day.
* OlderThanFeudalism: In Literature/TheBible, God provides "manna" to feed the Israelites on their journey out of Egypt. It's described as having the appearance of tree gum and tasting like wafers and honey. They live on it for 40 years. The Israelites appreciated the manna at first but got weary of eating the same thing all the time.
* In ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', Charlie's destitute family subsists on grey "cabbage water" and, when they're really lucky, the occasional loaf of bread.
* In ''Literature/TheZombieKnight'', Colt's cooking is like this, although it actually tastes okay.
-->'''Hector:''' What's in this?
-->'''Colt:''' Gravy.
-->'''Hector:''' And?
-->'''Colt:''' AndSomeOtherStuff.
-->'''Hector:''' What other stuff?
-->'''Colt:''' Just be glad I'm good at making gravy.
* In Jill Pinkwater's ''The Disappearance of Sister Perfect'', the heroine infiltrates a cult and is put off by the cheap, institutional food (chipped beef, peas, and mashed potatoes, all described in the most unappetizing terms). It sticks to the roof of her mouth, which is too bad, because cult members are forbidden from drinking until ''after'' they have finished their food. The drink itself is described by one character as "instant flavored sugar water  cheaper than juice."
* When the companions posing as poor travelers in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' aren't eating food from seedy inns, or leftovers from their last stop, or burning bacon to a crisp, they resort to eating gruel.
--> '''Silk''': I hate gruel.
* In ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel'' and the sequels, the lowest classes have to substitute on some bland yeast mush. The entire Earth qualifies, in a way, being poor and overcrowded compared to the rich and spoiled Spacers - even natural food, rather than yeast, is always eaten processed, and only in Spacer cuisine does one encounter things like whole apples, eggs with visible yolk, etc.
[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* In an episode of ''Series/JohnnyBago'', Johnny is forced to join a traveling circus. The ringmaster is a blackmailer who is forcing all the workers to work for him for free, and feeds them leftovers from the previous day's crowd all mixed together. It's served in scoops of brown ''blech''.
* In ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' the crew primarily subsists on a grey sludge extruded by the titular LivingShip through a rather disturbingly-shaped dispenser.
* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Leslie Winkle and other characters have been heard to remark instant ramen fulfills this function when the need for food coincides with a near-total absence of cash.
[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken''. In "Confused", Cow and Chicken are sent to military school, where for chow they are served yellowish-brown goop to eat out of their helmets, which Red Guy (as their Drill Sergeant) says is beans and biscuits.
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory''. In "Misplaced in Space", Dexter finds himself in an alien prison, where he's served what he accurately refers to as, "a bowl of foul-smelling gruel", but tries to play up his faux gratitude by complimenting the chef. Luckily for him, however, an alien inmate with an insatiable appetite consumes Dexter's bowl for him.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Tommy wishes for everyone to be the same, including grey mush for food. It chime with the rest of the "everything is grey and homogeneous and boring" theme of the episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Ron complains about the indeterminate "pudding" served by the school cafeteria, which is contrasted with the fine fare served at the "senior table".
* Johnny Hart's cavemen appeared in an AnimatedAdaptation of their comic strip ''ComicStrip/{{BC}}: The First Thanksgiving'' in 1973. After failing to catch a turkey for dinner, the men had to make do with rock soup. Fat Broad ladled moist rocks onto their plates. It made for one grim meal.
* Jebidiah "Cookie" Farnsworth from Disney's ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' serves up lumpy ooze to the survivors, who have no alternative except to choke it down. Cookie earlier stated that the four food groups are: "beans, bacon, whiskey and lard," thus dinner looks to be some unholy mixture of those ingredients.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'', the staple diet of Thembria is "gruel", it looks like something use as glue more than food. When Balou is trapped in a Thembrian prison camp, he's roped into a plot by one of the inmates to blow of Thembria's "Strategic Gruel Reserves".
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