At the least, having something in your stomach makes you less miserable. Like GULAG prisoners eating clay and coal.

Same with konjac noodles. Basically no nutrition in them but they keep you from feeling hungry.

Something something keep the peasants busy so they don't realize that many of them are about to starve to death, elders & kiddos first. Same as it ever was. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Wait, weren't rice noodles shelf stable when dry, and you could use the busted rice to make em. But I think mostly it was about just wanting noodles cuz they came from the wheat farmers who made noodles

TBF rice noodles last longer than minimally processed grains, at the cost of some nutritional value.