Staple food

Food energy consumption per person, per day, worldwide

Average daily food energy (kcal) per person, 1979–1981

Average daily food energy (kcal) per person, 2001–2003

  No data

  <1600

  1600–1800

  1800–2000

  2000–2200

  2200–2400

  2400–2600

  2600–2800

  2800–3000

  3000–3200

  3200–3400

  3400–3600

  >3600

Except for war-torn countries, the people of the world are getting more daily calories, despite a growing population globally.

The dominant staple foods in different parts of the world are a function of weather patterns, local terrain, farming constraints, acquired tastes and ecosystems. For example, the main energy source staples in the average African diet are cereals (46 percent), roots and tubers (20 percent) and animal products (7 percent). In Western Europe the main staples in the average diet are animal products (33 percent), cereals (26 percent), and roots and tubers (4 percent).

Most of the human population lives on a diet based on one or more of the following staples: cereals (rice, wheat, maize (corn), millet, and sorghum), roots and tubers (potatoes, cassava, yams and taro), and animal products such as meat, milk, eggs, cheese and fish. Regional staples include the plants rye, soybeans, barley, oats, and teff.

Just 15 plant crops provide 90 percent of the world's food energy intake (exclusive of meat), with rice, maize, and wheat comprising 2/3 of human food consumption. These three are the staples of about 80 percent of the world population,[8] and rice feeds almost half of humanity.

Roots and tubers, meanwhile, are important staples for over one billion people in the developing world, accounting for roughly 40 percent of the food eaten by half the population of sub-Saharan Africa. Roots and tubers are high in carbohydrates, calcium, and vitamin C, but low in protein. Cassava root, for example, is a major food staple in the developing world, a basic food source for around 500 million people.

With economic development and free trade, many countries have shifted away from low-nutrient-density staple foods to higher-nutrient-density staples, as well as towards greater meat consumption. Despite this trend, there is growing recognition of the importance of traditional staple crops in nutrition. Agriculture constantly seeks to identify better plant strains with superior nutrition, disease resistance, and higher yields.

Some foods like quinoa—a pseudocereal grain that originally came from the Andes—were also staples centuries ago.[9] Oca tubers, ulluku tubers and grain amaranth are other foods claimed to be historical Andean staples.[10] Pemmican made from dried meat and fat was a staple of the Plains Indians of North America.[11] In 2010, the global consumption of "speciality grains", such as quinoa, was very small compared to other staples, such as rice, wheat, and maize. These grains, once popular, are being reevaluated and reintroduced to certain markets.

Most staple food is currently produced using modern, conventional farming practices. However, the production of staple food using organic farming methods is growing.

Rice is most commonly cooked and eaten as separate entire grains, but most other staple cereals are milled into a flour or meal that can be used to make bread, noodles, pasta, porridge and mushes like mealie pap. Root vegetables can be mashed and used to make porridge-like dishes such as poi and fufu. Pulses (such as chickpeas, from which gram flour is made) and starchy root vegetables (such as canna rhizomes) can also be made into flour.

Plant-based food staples may not provide a full range of nutrients. The nutrient-deficiency disease pellagra is associated with a diet consisting primarily of maize, while the disease beriberi is associated with a diet of refined white rice.[17] Scurvy can result from a lack of vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid. One author indicated that the nutritional value of some staple foods are negatively impacted by higher levels of carbon dioxide, as occurs in climate change.[18]

• 
  White rice, boiled
• 
  Bread made from wheat flour (contains gluten)
• 
  Maize (corn)
• 
  Edamame (green soybeans)
• 
  Kidney beans
• 
  Sorghum seeds and popped sorghum
• 
  Amaranth (left) and common wheat berries
• 
  Millet grains
• 
  Colored quinoa
• 
  Cassava roots
• 
  Chinese yams
• 
  Sweet potato salad
• 
  Ulluco tubers
• 
  Oca tubers
• 
  Taro roots
• 
  Potatoes
• 
  Plantain and banana

• Cash crop
• Famine food
• Vavilov centers

• Media related to Staple foods at Wikimedia Commons