Staple

Species that supply a large share of daily calories for a population—rice, maize, cassava, etc. Tagging “staple” highlights plants of foundational dietary importance versus niche culinary roles.

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  Bananas: Chaos out of Order

  The banana’s familiar image hides a complex history of human intervention and global migration. This story explores the banana’s botanical roots, challenges cultural stereotypes, and highlights the ongoing confusion in its scientific classification.
  fruit, tropical, staple
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  Black-Eyed Pea: Crop, Culture, Class

  The black-eyed pea has a rich global history, shifting from a sacred African symbol to a humble food for laborers and enslaved peoples. Today, it’s celebrated worldwide as both a cultural touchstone and a versatile ingredient that bridges old and new traditions.
  legume, vegetable, drought-tolerant, staple
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  The Breadfruit's Reinvention: Pacific to Caribbean

  Breadfruit, a towering tree with nourishing fruit, has long been a staple across the Pacific, spread by human migration and cultivation. This story explores how its movement reveals patterns of settlement, and how selective breeding over millennia transformed the plant into the seedless, resilient form we know today.
  fruit, tropical, staple
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  Carolina Rice: An Agricultural Legacy of Enslaved Peoples

  Carolina rice, once lost after the Reconstruction era, is being revived as a heritage grain with deep historical roots. Its story uncovers a legacy of slavery, settler colonialism, and exploitation that shaped both the British Empire and early America.
  grain, wetland, staple
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  Cassava: From Toxic Tuber to Food Staple

  Cassava is a vital global food source, feeding millions despite its raw form being toxic. This story explores how human ingenuity transformed it from a poisonous South American tuber into a staple crop cultivated and consumed around the world.
  root, tropical, drought-tolerant, staple
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  Maize: Sacred Plant, Global Commodity

  In 2014, mass protests erupted in Guatemala against the so-called “Monsanto Law,” which restricted the reuse of patented seeds like genetically modified maize. This story explores how the law threatened centuries-old cultural and spiritual ties to maize, highlighting the deep-rooted tensions between traditional knowledge and corporate control.
  grain, staple, temperate
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  Quinoa: From Indigenous Crop to International Superfood

  Quinoa became a global “superfood” almost overnight, but its roots stretch back thousands of years to the Andes, where it was a vital subsistence crop. This story reveals how rising global demand reshaped the lives of Andean farmers and raises important questions about food justice, sustainability, and cultural appropriation in global food trends.
  grain, high-altitude, staple, gluten-free