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Food staple (Food staples are eaten regularly—even daily—and supply a…
Food staple
Food staples are eaten regularly—even daily—and supply a major proportion of a person’s energy and nutritional needs.
A food staple is a food that makes up the dominant part of a population’s diet.
Food staples vary from place to place, depending on the food sources available.
Most food staples are inexpensive, plant-based foods. They are usually full of calories for energy. Cereal grains and tubers are the most common food staples.
There are more than 50,000 edible plants in the world, but just 15 of them provide 90 percent of the world’s food energy intake.
. Rice, corn (maize), and wheat make up two-thirds of this. Other food staples include millet and sorghum; tubers such as potatoes, cassava, yams, and taro; and animal products such as meat, fish, and dairy.
Food staples traditionally depend on what plants are native to a region. However, with improvements in agriculture, food storage, and transportation, some food staples are changing.
Today, the world’s largest rice producers are China, India, and Indonesia. Outside of Asia, Brazil is the largest rice producer.
Rice grows in warm, wet climates. It thrives in waterlogged soil, such as in the flood plains of Asian rivers such as the Ganges and the Mekong.
Corn is used in a variety of ways, and can be stored relatively easily. This is why it is such a popular food staple.
Corn, known outside the United States as maize, is native to Central America, where it was domesticated by the Aztecs and Mayans. Corn remains the most widely grown crop in the Americas today.
The United States is the world’s largest corn grower, producing more than 40 percent of the world’s corn. China, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina also produce large amounts of corn.
Dried, ground corn is called cornmeal. Many cultures make porridge out of cornmeal, including polenta in Italy and sadza in Zimbabwe. Cornmeal is also used to make cornbread, or treated with limewater to make masa, the main ingredient in tortillas.
Corn kernels can be soaked in lye to produce hominy. Coarsely ground hominy is used to make grits, a popular food in the southeastern United States. Grits are a popular breakfast food, as are corn flakes and other cereals made from corn.
In the Americas and the United Kingdom, many people like to boil, grill, or roast whole ears of corn and simply eat the kernels off the cob. Cooked kernels may also be removed from the cob and served as a vegetable.
Certain varieties of corn kernels, when dried, will explode when heated, producing popcorn.
Corn is also used to produce corn oil, sweeteners such as corn syrup, and cornstarch, which is used as a sweetener and thickening agent in home cooking and processed food products.
Wheat was first domesticated in the Middle East, in the area known as the Cradle of Civilization near what is now Iraq. Domesticating this reliable, versatile staple food was key to the development of agriculture.
Wheat grows well in temperate climates, even those with a short growing season. Today, the largest wheat producers are China, India, the United States, Russia, and France.
The majority of breads are made with wheat flour. Wheat flour is also used in pasta, pastries, crackers, breakfast cereals, and noodles. Starting in the 19th century, wheat joined corn as a popular ingredient for making tortillas
Wheat can be crushed into bulgur, which has a high nutritional value and is often used in soups and pastries in the Middle East.
Food staple