# You Can Choose Three Staples **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 25, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-choose-three-staples/848467 "2020-02-25T01:59:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-choose-three-staples/848467/41 "2020-02-28T16:22:25Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > It seems to me that rice is a poor choice because it needs such vast amounts of water (I think?) that many places would not be able to grow it. Forgot about this: there are [upland varieties of rice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upland_rice). ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-choose-three-staples/848467/42 "2020-02-29T05:20:39Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Concur. The American Triad. Staples must be storable in bulk, so squash must be dried. With that caveat, I might replace squash with dried peppers for Vit.C. Consider potatoes mostly because they require little infrastructure to produce and consume. Do bean sprouts have enough vit. C? > [@RTFirefly](#): > > Not sure about the other two, but #1 is peanuts. Because I can’t imagine life without peanut butter. Good for you, maybe, but not a good bet for a new population. Peanuts are one of those most common allergies, and among the most likely to be fatal. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-choose-three-staples/848467/43 "2020-02-29T05:28:31Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The Three Sisters: Corn, beans, and squash. > . . . I was always taught this growing up, and also that they should be planted along with the leftovers from cleaning fish. But no one could ever tell me what type of beans were meant. Is it green beans? Garbanzos? Kidney? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-choose-three-staples/848467/44 "2020-02-29T17:38:01Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I was always taught this growing up, and also that they should be planted along with the leftovers from cleaning fish. But no one could ever tell me what type of beans were meant. Is it green beans? Garbanzos? Kidney? _Phaseolus vulgaris_—includes green beans and kidney beans, navy, pinto, great northern, snap, black turtle, etc., besides other _Phaseolus_ spp. like lima beans _P. lunatus_—all native to the Americas. But garbanzo is _Cicer_, an Old World genus. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-choose-three-staples/848467/45 "2020-02-29T18:55:44Z")
We don’t have a lot of details on the hypothetical - if it is really and truly a “new earth” with a globe just like ours, then obviously staples will vary from place to place just as they do now, based on different climactic conditions if nothing else. Anyway, staples for Pacific Islanders should be fish, coconut, and sweet potatoes (eating both tubers and leaves). Which is not far from the actual case on our current earth in some places, though taro is more popular than sweet potatoes and imported Spam, rice, and turkey tails have overtaken much of the locally available food. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-choose-three-staples/848467.md?page=2)