Staple Foods Quiz

Staple Foods: A Summary

• A staple food is a food that is regularly consumed in large quantities and provides a significant proportion of a person or group's dietary needs.
• Staple foods can be derived from vegetables or animal products, and typically include cereals, starchy tubers or root vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, and dried legumes.
• The dominant staple foods in different parts of the world are a function of weather patterns, local terrain, farming constraints, acquired tastes, and ecosystems.
• 15 plant crops provide 90% of the world's food energy intake, with rice, maize, and wheat comprising 2/3 of human food consumption.
• Roots and tubers are important staples for over one billion people in the developing world, accounting for roughly 40% of the food eaten by half the population of sub-Saharan Africa.
• 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.
• Most staple food is currently produced using modern, conventional farming practices, but the production of staple food using organic farming methods is growing.
• Consumed in isolation, staple foods do not provide the full range of essential 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.
• The nutritional value of some staple foods is negatively affected by higher levels of carbon dioxide, as occurs in climate change.
• Potatoes, although a staple food, must be cooked, but should not be sprouted.
• The table in the text compares the nutrient content of 10 major staple vegetable foods in raw form on a dry weight basis to account for their different water contents.