Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index A staple food is a basic but nutritious food that forms the basis of a traditional diet, particularly that of the poor. Although nutritious, staple foods generally do not by themselves provide a full range of nutrients, so other foods need to be added to the diet to prevent malnutrition. Staple foods vary from place to place, but include: "corn", which can, depending on the locality, mean any of: barley maize oats rye wheat bread made from any of the above, including: tortillas chapatis naan cassava lentils millet noodles pasta potatoes rice sorghum sweet potatoes teff yams It has been hypothesised that some staple foods may act as a Giffen good in conditions of extreme poverty. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.