The Starchy Staples in World Food Consumption

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8377352
AutoresDavid Grigg (0000-0002-9461-9933, University of Sheffield, autor de correspondencia)
Año1996
Volumen86
Número3
Páginas412-431
Fecha de publicación1996-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAnnals of the Association of American Geographers (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0004-5608 • E-ISSN: 1467-8306
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-8306.1996.tb01760.x
OpenAlexW1979852267
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas27

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

Agricultural economics · Consumption (sociology) · Economics · Food consumption · Geography · Social science · Sociology · Food composition and properties