Instant ramen has always been prized among college students—but a new study reveals that it’s also popular among U.S. inmates.

方便面在大学生中经常被当做珍贵的东西——但是一项最新研究显示，在美国的犯人中它同样很受欢迎。

In fact, The Guardian US reports, the freeze-dried noodles are actually surpassing other popular money substitutes like tobacco，stamps and envelopes as the underground prison currency.

据美国《卫报》报道，事实上方便面超过其它流行的货币替代品，比如香烟，邮票和信封成为监狱地下交易的新“货币”。

Michael Gibson-Light, a doctoral candidate at the University of Arizona School of Sociology, researched the report, which was published by the American Sociological Association on August 22.

美国亚利桑那大学社会学院的学者吉布森·莱特进行了调查，美国社会学于8月22日发表了该报告。

Gibson-Light spent a year interviewing around 60 male inmates and staff members at an anonymous state-run prison. While observing how prisoners dealt with service cutbacks, he noticed that they traded instant ramen packets for food, clothing, toiletries, and services. They even gambled with the noodles during card games.

吉布森·莱特花费了一年的时间在一所匿名州立监狱采访了近60名犯人和工作人员。在观察犯人们如何应对服务削减的时候，他发现他们用方便面交换食品，服装，盥洗用品和服务。他们甚至在玩纸牌的时候将方便面作为交易筹码。

"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," Gibson-Light concluded in a news release. "Because it is cheap, tasty, and rich in calories, ramen has become so valuable that it is used to exchange for other goods."

犯人们对他们那些分量少又不好吃的监狱伙食非常不满意，于是他们开始依赖方便面-一种便宜，耐放的食品作为他们地下经济的一种新“货币”。 吉布森在新闻发布会上总结说，因为拉面比较便宜、味道鲜美，而且热量充足，它变得非常有价值所以经常被用来交换其它物品。

Inmates used two packs of 59-cent ramen to buy a $11 sweatshirt, or five cigarettes worth $2. Men were sometimes even killed after they purchased ramen from illegal inmate stores on credit and were unable to repay their debts, inmates told Gibson-Light.

犯人们用2包泡面可以换到价值约11美元的运动衫，或者价值2美元的5支香烟。犯人们告诉吉布森，当有人从非法的同狱犯人处赊购方便面但是没有能力偿还债务的时候，他们有时候甚至会被杀害。