Staple food

A staple food is a food item that can be stored easily and eaten throughout the year.

The term means the common basis of the everyday diet in a place. Potatoes and rice are the most usual examples, but bread is not a staple food because it is a manufactured food which cannot be stored. Of course, it can always be made, since wheat is a staple food. Fruit is not a staple because it usually grows at a certain time of year. Meat is not a staple because it may not be available, or is expensive to buy. Green vegetables may be a staple in some countries, but not others. Foods which need special facilities, such as refrigeration are not staple foods.

Here are some examples of staple foods:

• Maize (corn)
• Rice
• Wheat
• Potatoes
• Cassava
• Soybeans
• Sweet potatoes
• Yams
• Sorghum
• Plantain
• Barley (leaves)
• Lentils

Pictures of common staple foods

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  Grains

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  Various types of potatoes

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  Plantains, related to banana

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  Boiled white rice

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  beans

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  Maize

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  Amaranth (left) and wheat

Staple Food Media

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  Bread made from wheat flour

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  A variety of pastas, including fresh and dry pasta.*Photography by David Adam Kess

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  couscous avec légumes et poulet

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  Edamame (green soybeans)

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  RedRajmaBNC

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  Sorghum seeds and popped sorghum