Knowra Staple food Staple food A food eaten regularly in large quantities that supplies a major share of a population’s energy and basic nutrients. Staples are typically inexpensive, widely available, and suited to local growing or storage conditions.
Rice : A cereal grain that is a staple food for billions, especially in Asia. Rice supplies daily calories across many regions and is often eaten at nearly every meal.
Carbohydrate : A class of molecules that includes sugars, starches, and dietary fiber. Starch in many staple foods provides readily available dietary energy.
Neolithic Revolution : The transition in many regions from foraging toward farming and settled communities. Farming made regular production and storage of staple crops possible.
Great Famine of Ireland : A catastrophic Irish famine from 1845 to 1852, caused chiefly by potato crop failure under colonial conditions. Reliance on potatoes made crop disease devastating for poor Irish households.
Subsistence agriculture : Farming in which production primarily meets the needs of the farmer’s household or community. Staple crops often anchor subsistence farms and local food supplies.
Maize : A cereal crop domesticated in Mexico and now grown worldwide for food, feed, and industry. Maize is a dietary foundation in parts of Africa and the Americas.
Crop yield : The amount of harvested crop produced per unit of land or other input. High yields help make staple crops abundant and affordable.
Fertile Crescent : A region of Southwest Asia where early agriculture and several crop domestications developed. Early cultivation of wheat and barley helped establish cereal-based diets.
Bengal famine of 1943 : A famine in Bengal during World War II that killed millions amid war, inflation, and policy failures. The crisis shows that staple availability alone cannot ensure access to food.
Cash crop : A crop grown chiefly for sale rather than direct consumption by the grower. Cash crops compete with food staples for land, labor, and investment.
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