Humans have eaten thousands of plant species over history.
Today, an astonishing share of the calories keeping the planet alive comes from just three crops.
TL;DR
- Three crops, wheat, rice, and maize, provide about 51% of the calories in the human diet.
- Add soybean, and just four crops supply more than half of global calories: wheat 20%, rice 16%, maize 13%, soybean 8%.
- Plant-based foods supply about 83% of calories; animal products supply the remaining 17 to 18%.
The calorie composition figures here come from FAO food balance data, as compiled by Our World in Data and the FAO.
Narrow base of the Human Diet
Of the roughly 6,000 plant species humans have eaten, the world now relies mostly on nine, and just three of them provide half of all calories.
About three-quarters of the food humans eat comes from just 12 plant and 5 animal sources.
The human diet, for all its cultural variety, rests on a remarkably thin foundation.
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Where the U.S. Diverges From the Global Plate
Worldwide, cereals contribute 55 to 70% of calories in developing countries, where rice or maize is the daily staple.
In wealthy Western diets, that cereal share is far lower and animal products, added fats, and sugars take up much more.
So the global headline, that the world runs on grain, is truest for the poorest countries and least true for the richest.
That contrast is the interesting part of the story, not a footnote to it.
Why the Narrow Base is a Risk
Depending on three crops means the world’s food supply is exposed to whatever hits those three crops.
When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted wheat trade, global prices spiked nearly 40%, and more than 20 countries imposed export restrictions.
A diet built on a handful of crops is efficient, but it is also fragile.
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ELI5
People can eat thousands of different plants, but almost all of the world’s food energy comes from just three: wheat, rice, and corn. Most of our calories come from plants, and only a small part comes from meat and dairy.
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