A food staple is a food that can be stored throughout the year in any weather, and also is considered part of a traditional diet to a localized region. Potatoes, rice and beans are all examples of staple foods that are consumed throughout the world. These food staples, along with others, are often crucial to poorer economies who rely heavily on their consumption for their survival.

But before you go off and search endlessly for the latest staple food information, there are a few things you should consider. Determining which region of the world you'll be studying along with its predominating cultures will inform you which staple foods are indigenous to that region. Here are a few places to look for the latest staple food information resources news and trends.

1. Visit university or international organizations websites to locate the latest information on staple foods.

2. Check out national papers and magazines for staple food information resources.

3. Locate staple food information resources news and trends by visiting websites that are a database for articles as well as organizations with interests in staple food production.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Read the websites for associations and international organizations for staple food information

Quality educational and association websites offer an introspective look into such items as staple food resources. With their content constantly being updated with the latest news, articles and studies, it's a fantastic resource to find the latest information news and trends of staple foods.

I recommend: Check out the website for Michigan State University. The Agricultural Economics Department offers a section of working papers and articles about staple foods and their security around the world. Also, the United Nations website offers comprehensive articles on emerging staple foods throughout the world.

Read national publications for staple food information

Staple food information is usually covered in the economic or business sections of regional and national papers. These keep tabs on prices, the associated costs and supply and demand mechanism associated with staple foods. They base their information on government reports that are released monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly and yearly.

I recommend: Check out the online publication Afrique Jet, which often releases comprehensive articles in relation to staple crop prices in Africa. Another online publication, The Guardian, keeps tabs of staple food prices in the United Kingdom with periodical articles.

Search research collectives and international organizations for articles on staple food

When it comes to the latest articles, publications and news on staple foods, look to websites that combine a massive amount of data and articles from all over the world. Since staple foods vary by country, such a resource will provide you with a bevy of information from Brazil to Belgium. Also, international organizations with no political interests that monitor agriculture are a wonderful source of information.

I recommend: Check out the website for High Beam Research for a collective articles from throughout the world on staple foods. This serves as a database where you can read some articles for free while subscribing to others. Another great source is the Green Peace website. Because they are a humanitarian organization steeped in the promotion of world-wide peace and promoting such things as sustainable agriculture, they often publish articles and reports on staple foods throughout the world.

Find staple food information for your business, or learn what the food staples of other countries are. Learn how to prepare, cook and serve staple foods for your customers or your guests to give them a taste of our culture or a meal from home.

Food staple resources are imperative to the understanding of how to send food or donations to developing and third world countries. They also help aid organizations determine how to allocate funds towards the resources truly needed to stave off starvation.

To find information on staple foods:

1. Determine for which country you are seeking staple crop and staple food resources.

2. After reading the resources, work to stock your kitchen with the necessary supplies.

3. Prepare and serve your food dish, and seek out the critique of your food taster. Use that information to figure out what you did right or wrong.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find Japanese staple food items

Learn to identify, prepare, cook and serve Japanese staple foods. From rice, noodles, soy and more, find out what food items grace the table at most every meal.

I recommend: Learn about the six healthiest staple foods in the Japanese cuisine from Sixwise.com. Find out even more about the Japanese diet from Japan Zone. There you will learn about rice, noodles and soy. Look at an expanded list of Japanese staples from Planet Food. Find a listing of the top ten Japanese cookbooks that are printed in English from Sally's Place.

Locate Italian staple food resources

Find out about Italian staple foods from vegetables to pasta. Traditionally, Italians used to eat whatever was in season and could be grown by themselves or grown locally.

I recommend: Find out what foods are a part of an Italian cuisine from MediterrAsian. Look at even more Italian favorites from Life in Italy. Order Italian staples from Gourmet Food Express.

Try French staple food information resources

Try out French staple foods at your next meal for family, guest or customers. From cheeses, bread, wines and croissants to regional specialities like and seafood, prepare the perfect dish for the sophisticated palette.

I recommend: Learn about French cuisine from Discover France. Check out more French food like cous-cous as well as regional preferences from France This Way. You can even consider signing up for their newsletter.

Look into information on staple foods donations

Learn how to donate or contribute to the purchase of staple food items for people in impoverished countries or living under impoverished conditions, including those in the U.S.

I recommend: Take advantage of The Hunger Site and GreaterGood Network. Your donations help send food and resources to those who suffer from hunger, oppression and poverty not only in the U.S. but also around the world. Find out how to donate to God's Food Pantry. Find out more about Oxfam America and how you can donate. Learn about the hunger relief efforts of America's Second Harvest.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Take into consideration the people who don't have staple food resources to provide meals for themselves or their families on a regular basis and make donations of your finances, time and resources. It's socially conscious, and from a business perspective it also offers you potential PR benefits that you can discretely promote and tell others about. Use it as part of your company newsletter, tell your investors or share the information with the public. Give your audience the 'warm fuzzy' that you are a charitable organization and that you value the lives of your fellow man.

A community's staple foods are often developed as a result of the local plant and animal life -- people will eat food items that are most abundant and easily accessible. In addition, traditions and customs play a major role in how a people prepare and serve their food.

You should familiarize yourself with a region's staple foods before going on an extended trip, especially if you have any specific dietary requirements or allergies. It is also important to educate yourself on food staples if you are planning on doing any mission or relief work in impoverished countries.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Miso

Miso is a Japanese staple that is a fermented soybean paste. After fermenting for weeks or years, it acquires a texture similar to peanut butter. It's often used as a condiment or in soup.

I recommend: Find out more about miso from Sixwise.com.

Natto

Natto is another Japanese staple that is made from fermented soybeans. It is eaten as a breakfast food and it is often consumed with rice, soy sauce and chopped green onions.

I recommend: Find out more about natto from the Denver Naturopathic Clinic.

Couscous, Cous-cous or Cous cous

Couscous (Cous-cous or Cous cous) is a staple food in North Africa and is also common in Western Africa and Central Africa. It is a pasta made by mixing flour and water that is formed into a paste then shaped and dried.

I recommend: Discover more about couscous from The Congo Cookbook.

Antipasto

Antipasto are small appetizers that are a staple in Mediterranean cultures. They are the start to most all Italian feasts, and the word literally means 'before the meal.'

I recommend: Learn more about antipasto from mediterrasian.com.

UN

UN stands for United Nations, an international organization that strives to facilitate cooperation in international law and other foreign affairs. The United Nations keeps a global pulse on staple food consumption to avoid and/or deal with world food crisis situations in addition to working with aid relief agencies to provide staple foods in underprivileged areas.

I recommend: Look at UN resources on the emerging African staple food cassava.

Greenpeace

Greenpeace is a direct-action, lobbying and research non-governmental organization that fights for the protection and conservation of the environment. Greenpeace looks to protect staple crops so prevent local food shortages.

I recommend: Learn about the staple food rice from Greenpeace.