Staple food

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Staple food

A staple food is a food

Food

Food is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be Eating or Drinking by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure....
that can be stored for use throughout the year and forms the basis of a traditional diet. Staple foods vary from place to place, but are typically inexpensive starch

Starch

File:Amylose2.svgFile:Amylopektin Sessel.svgStarch or amylum is a polysaccharide carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds....
y foods of vegetable

Vegetable

The term "vegetable" generally means the Eating parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however, and therefore the usage of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation....
origin that are high in food energy

Food energy

Food energy is the amount of energy in food that is available through digestion.Like other forms of energy, food energy is expressed in calories or joules....
(Calories) and carbohydrate

Carbohydrate

Carbohydrates or saccharides are the most abundant of the four major classes of biomolecules. They fill numerous roles in living things, such as the storage and transport of energy and structural components ....
. The staple food of a specific cuisine

Cuisine

Cuisine is a specific set of cooking traditions and practices, often associated with a specific culture. A cuisine is primarily influenced by the ingredients that are available locally or through trade....
may commonly be served as part of every meal, and its name may be used synonymously with "food" in some contexts, such as the reference to "our daily bread" in the Lord's Prayer

Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer, also known as the Our Father or Pater noster, is probably the best-known prayer in Christianity. On Easter Sunday 2007 it was estimated that 2 billion Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox Christians read, recited, or sang the short prayer in hundreds of languages in houses of worship of all shapes and size...
, and a common greeting of "Have you eaten rice?" denoting "How are you?" in certain cultures. Most staple foods derive either from cereal

Cereal

Cereals, or cereal grains, are mostly Poaceae cultivated for their edible brans or fruit seeds . Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they are therefore staple foods....
s such as wheat

Wheat

Wheat , is a worldwide cultivated Poaceae from the Levant region of the Middle East. Globally, after maize, wheat is the second most-produced food among the cereal just above rice....
, barley

Barley

Barley is an annual plant cereal grain derived from the grass Hordeum vulgare. It serves as a major animal feed crop, with smaller amounts used for malting and in health food, as well as the making of alcoholic beverages beer and whisky....
, rye

Rye

Rye is a Poaceae grown extensively as a grain and forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some rye whiskey, some vodkas, and animal fodder....
, maize

Maize

Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....
, or rice

Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
, or starchy root vegetable

Root vegetable

Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. Other underground plants are often, erroneously, called root vegetables. Root vegetables include both true roots such as tuberous roots and taproots, but exclude non-roots such as tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs....
s such as potato

Potato

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial plant Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family. The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well....
es, yam

Yam (vegetable)

Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea .These are perennial plant herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania....
s, taro

Taro

Taro , more rarely kalo , gabi in The Philippines and dalo in Fiji is a tropical plant grown primarily as a root vegetable for its edible corm, and secondarily as a leaf vegetable....
, and cassava

Cassava

The cassava, cassadaIn page 25, Darwin says "Mandioca or cassada is likewise cultivated in great quantity."See it also in ,yuca, 'manioc, 'mogo...
.

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Encyclopedia

A staple food is a food
Food

Food is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be Eating or Drinking by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure....
that can be stored for use throughout the year and forms the basis of a traditional diet. Staple foods vary from place to place, but are typically inexpensive starch
Starch

File:Amylose2.svgFile:Amylopektin Sessel.svgStarch or amylum is a polysaccharide carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds....
y foods of vegetable
Vegetable

The term "vegetable" generally means the Eating parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however, and therefore the usage of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation....
origin that are high in food energy
Food energy

Food energy is the amount of energy in food that is available through digestion.Like other forms of energy, food energy is expressed in calories or joules....
(Calories) and carbohydrate
Carbohydrate

Carbohydrates or saccharides are the most abundant of the four major classes of biomolecules. They fill numerous roles in living things, such as the storage and transport of energy and structural components ....
. The staple food of a specific cuisine
Cuisine

Cuisine is a specific set of cooking traditions and practices, often associated with a specific culture. A cuisine is primarily influenced by the ingredients that are available locally or through trade....
may commonly be served as part of every meal, and its name may be used synonymously with "food" in some contexts, such as the reference to "our daily bread" in the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer, also known as the Our Father or Pater noster, is probably the best-known prayer in Christianity. On Easter Sunday 2007 it was estimated that 2 billion Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox Christians read, recited, or sang the short prayer in hundreds of languages in houses of worship of all shapes and size...
, and a common greeting of "Have you eaten rice?" denoting "How are you?" in certain cultures. Most staple foods derive either from cereal
Cereal

Cereals, or cereal grains, are mostly Poaceae cultivated for their edible brans or fruit seeds . Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they are therefore staple foods....
s such as wheat
Wheat

Wheat , is a worldwide cultivated Poaceae from the Levant region of the Middle East. Globally, after maize, wheat is the second most-produced food among the cereal just above rice....
, barley
Barley

Barley is an annual plant cereal grain derived from the grass Hordeum vulgare. It serves as a major animal feed crop, with smaller amounts used for malting and in health food, as well as the making of alcoholic beverages beer and whisky....
, rye
Rye

Rye is a Poaceae grown extensively as a grain and forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some rye whiskey, some vodkas, and animal fodder....
, maize
Maize

Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....
, or rice
Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
, or starchy root vegetable
Root vegetable

Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. Other underground plants are often, erroneously, called root vegetables. Root vegetables include both true roots such as tuberous roots and taproots, but exclude non-roots such as tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs....
s such as potato
Potato

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial plant Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family. The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well....
es, yam
Yam (vegetable)

Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea .These are perennial plant herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania....
s, taro
Taro

Taro , more rarely kalo , gabi in The Philippines and dalo in Fiji is a tropical plant grown primarily as a root vegetable for its edible corm, and secondarily as a leaf vegetable....
, and cassava
Cassava

The cassava, cassadaIn page 25, Darwin says "Mandioca or cassada is likewise cultivated in great quantity."See it also in ,yuca, 'manioc, 'mogo...
. Other staple foods include pulses
Pulse (legume)

Pulses are annual leguminous crops yielding from one to twelve grains or seeds of variable size, shape and color within a pod, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations ....
(dried legume
Legume

A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae , or a fruit of these specific plants. A legume fruit is a Fruit#Simple fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually Dehiscence on two sides....
s), sago
Sago

Sago is a starch extracted from the pith of sago palm stems, Metroxylon sagu. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of Papua New Guinea and the Moluccas, where it is called saksak and sagu....
(derived from the pith
Pith

Pith is a light substance that is found in vascular plants. It consists of soft, spongy parenchyma cells, and is located in the center of the Plant stem....
of the sago palm tree), and fruits such as breadfruit
Breadfruit

Breadfruit is a species of Flowering plant tree in the Morus family, Moraceae, that is native to the Malay Peninsula and western Pacific Ocean islands....
and plantains. Rice is most commonly eaten as cooked entire grains, but most other cereals are milled into flour
Flour

Flour is a powder made of cereal grains. It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history....
or meal
Meal

A meal is an instance of eating, specifically one that takes place at a specific time and includes specific, prepared food.Meals occur primarily at homes, restaurants, and cafeterias, but may occur anywhere....
which is used to make bread
Bread

Bread is a staple food prepared by baking a dough of flour and water. It may be leavened or unleavened. Edible salt, fat and a leavening agent such as yeast are common ingredients, though bread may contain a range of other ingredients: milk, Egg , sugar, spice, fruit , vegetables , Nut or seeds ....
; noodles or other pasta
Pasta

Pasta is a generic term for Italian cuisine variants of noodles, food made from a dough of flour, water and/or Egg , that is Boiling. The word can also denote dishes in which pasta products are the primary ingredient, served with sauce or seasonings....
; and porridge
Porridge

Porridge, or porage, is a simple dish made by boiling oats or another cereal in water, milk, or both. It is eaten in a flat bowl or a dish....
s and "mushes" such as polenta
Polenta

Polenta is a dish made from boiled cornmeal. Although the word is borrowed into English language from Italian language, the dish is popular in Italian cuisine, Slovenian cuisine, Savoyard, Swiss cuisine, Austrian cuisine, Portuguese cuisine, Bosnian cuisine, Croatian cuisine , Cuban cuisine, American cuisine, Hungarian cuisine , Serbian cui...
or mealie pap. Mashed root vegetables can be used to make similar porridge-like dishes, including poi
Poi (food)

Poi is a Hawaiian language word for the primary Polynesian staple food made from the corm of the kalo plant . Poi is produced by mashing the cooked corm to a highly viscous fluid....
and fufu
Fufu

Fufu, variants include foofoo, foufou, foutou or fufu, is a staple food of West Africa and Central Africa. It is a thick paste or porridge usually made by boiling starchy root vegetables in water and pounding with a large Mortar and pestle until the desired consistency is reached....
. Pulses (particularly chickpea
Chickpea

The chickpea is an edible legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Chickpeas are high in protein and one of the earliest cultivated vegetables....
s) and starchy root vegetables, such as Canna
Canna (plant)

Canna is a genus of approximately twenty species of flowering plants. The closest living relations to cannas are the other plant families of the order Zingiberales, that is the gingers, bananas, Marantaceae, heliconias, strelitzias, etc....
, can also be made into flour.

Although nutritious, staple foods generally do not by themselves provide a full range of nutrient
Nutrient

A nutrient is a chemical that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment....
s, so other foods need to be added to the diet to prevent malnutrition
Malnutrition

Malnutrition is a general term for a medical condition caused by an improper or inadequate diet and nutrition.According to the World Health Organization, hunger and malnutrition are the single gravest threats to the world's public health and malnutrition is by far the biggest contributor to child mortality, present in half of all cases....
. For example, the deficiency disease pellagra
Pellagra

Pellagra is a vitamin deficiency disease caused by dietary lack of niacin and protein, especially proteins containing the essential amino acid tryptophan....
is associated with a diet consisting primarily of maize
Maize

Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....
, and beriberi
Beriberi

Beriberi is a nervous system ailment caused by a deficiency of thiamine in the Diet . Thiamine is involved in the breakdown of energy molecules such as glucose, and is also found on the Cell membrane of neurons....
with a diet of white (i.e., refined) rice
Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
.

It has been hypothesized that some staple foods may act as a Giffen good
Giffen good

In economics and consumer theory, a Giffen good is that which people consume more of as price rises, violating the law of demand. In normal situations, as the price of such a good rises, the Consumer theory#Substitution effect causes people to purchase less of it and more of substitute goods....
in conditions of extreme poverty. This was first noted by Robert Giffen
Robert Giffen

Robert Giffen , was a British statistician and economist. He was born at Strathaven, Lanarkshire.He entered a solicitor's office in Glasgow, and while in that city attended courses at the University of Glasgow....
who argued that potato demand actually rose during the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849). While theoretically possible, this is a controversial view among economists as studies have failed to find much evidence of Giffen good behaviour in actual markets.

See also

Famine food
Famine food

A famine food or poverty food is any inexpensive or readily-available foodstuff used to nourish people in times of extreme poverty or starvation, as during a war or famine....
Cereal
Cereal

Cereals, or cereal grains, are mostly Poaceae cultivated for their edible brans or fruit seeds . Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they are therefore staple foods....
Root vegetable
Root vegetable

Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. Other underground plants are often, erroneously, called root vegetables. Root vegetables include both true roots such as tuberous roots and taproots, but exclude non-roots such as tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs....
Pulse
Pulse (legume)

Pulses are annual leguminous crops yielding from one to twelve grains or seeds of variable size, shape and color within a pod, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations ....
Bread
Bread

Bread is a staple food prepared by baking a dough of flour and water. It may be leavened or unleavened. Edible salt, fat and a leavening agent such as yeast are common ingredients, though bread may contain a range of other ingredients: milk, Egg , sugar, spice, fruit , vegetables , Nut or seeds ....
Pasta
Pasta

Pasta is a generic term for Italian cuisine variants of noodles, food made from a dough of flour, water and/or Egg , that is Boiling. The word can also denote dishes in which pasta products are the primary ingredient, served with sauce or seasonings....
Noodle
Noodle

A noodle is food made from unleavened dough that is cooked in a boiling liquid. Depending upon the type, noodles may be dried or refrigerated before cooking....
Rice
Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
Maize
Maize

Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....