Most basic staple foods come from a small number of plants and animals. Ranked by tonnage produced, the most important food plants throughout the world are wheat’s, corn, rice, potatoes, cassava, barley, soybeans, sorghums and millets, beans, peas and chickpeas, and peanuts. Wheat and rice are the most important plant foods. More than one-third of the world's cultivated land is planted with these two crops. Wheat is the dominant food staple in North America, Western and Eastern Europe, northern China, the Middle East, and North Africa. Rice is the dominant food staple in southern and eastern Asia.
Corn, used primarily as animal food in developed nations, is a staple food in Latin America and southeast Africa. Potatoes are a basic food in the highlands of South America and in Central and Eastern Europe. Cassava is a tropical starch-producing root crop of special dietary importance in portions of lowland South America, the west coast countries of Africa, and sections of South Asia. Barley is an important component of diets in North African, Middle Eastern, and Eastern European countries. Soybeans are an integral part of the diets of those who live in eastern, southeastern, and southern Asia. Sorghums and millets are staple subsistence foods in the savanna regions of Africa and South Asia, while peanuts are a facet of dietary mixes in tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America.
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