The starchy staples in world food consumption

Abstract

The starchy staples, cereals and roots, are generally the cheapest source of calories, and cereals one of the cheapest sources of protein, and so they make up a high proportion of food intake in poor countries. M. K. Bennett coined the term the "starchy-staple ratio" and argued that it was inversely related to income. It has also been suggested that the absolute consumption of starchy staples is related to income. When poor nations experience an increase in income both total calorie and starchy-staple consumption per capita will increase, but not indefinitely. With further increases in income, livestock products and the more expensive plant foods are substituted for the starchy staples whose consumption declines. Using food balance sheets, this paper traces the historical changes in starchy-staple consumption and in the starchy-staple ratio and their relation to total calorie supply and Gross National Product (GNP) per capita. The present starchy-staple ratio is correlated with GNP per capita, but absolute consumption is not.