History Main / PovertyFood

* 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.)

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]].

* 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".

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.

* 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.

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]].

** 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.

* 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 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."

* ReducedToRatburgers: A famished character resorts to eating rats and the like.

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.

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.

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]].

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]].

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.

Supertrope to a number of scenarios wherein characters struggle with the quality of their diet (in ascending order of grossness):

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.

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:{{Film}}]]

* 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.

* 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/{{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.

* 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."

* 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.

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.

* DogFoodDiet: A fallen-on-hard-times character ends up eating dog food out of a can.

* 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.

* ''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:

* 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."