A PROPOSED EXPLANATION OF WORLD DIETARY PATTERNS H. G. Kamel Western Washington State College The current war on poverty in our own country and the United Nations "Food for Freedom" campaign dramatize the well-known fact diat die supply of food is unevenly distributed over the face of die earth. This place-to-place variation in bodi the amount and die kinds of food eaten is of interest to the geographer, who seeks to explain such spatial variations in die distribution of many phenomena. In order to arrive at a scientific explanation of die uneven distribution of food, it is necessary first to classify the many observations of diets in different parts of the world. Various classification schemes come to mind; each has certain advantages and certain limitations. One possible basis for classification is so-called "national dishes" such as Sauerbraten, curry, or tamales. A second possibility is to study die distribution of a single food such as potatoes, oranges, or horse meat. A tiiird alternative would be to investigate the consumption of foods in various food groups, such as meats, cereal grains, or dairy products. A fourth basis for classification would be "regional diets," or combinations of foods. Essentially, the criteria upon which a classification scheme is based must be related to the purpose of the investigation. For tins study, it was decided to concentrate on three factors: the specific foods eaten, the nutritional adequacy of the diet, and variety in the diet. In order to include each of these to some degree, a scheme based on two criteria has been adopted. The first is major sources of calories—primarily the foods known as "starchy staples," such as cereals, potatoes, sugar, and fats and oils. The second is important sources of protein, both animal and vegetable. In using these criteria, the importance of vitamins and minerals in the diet is not ignored, but is considered as beyond the province of tins investigation. Although tin's scheme is not entirely satisfactory, it has the advantage of being based on die phenomenon which is being studied rather than external criteria, and it is adequate both for describing the characteristic foods eaten and for evaluating approximately the nutritional adequacy of die diet. The resulting classification of foods, on a world-wdde scale, is shown in the table-legend (Fig. 1). The spatial distribution of these classes is depicted on the map. (Fig. 2). In the table, classes are arranged according to the dominant food grains: wheat, rice, maize, and barley. Within each class, die major sources of calories are Usted in the approximate order of their importance in the diet. In die first six classes, wheat is a major food grain. In class 1, wheat, potatoes, sugar, and meat provide the majority of calories. This and Class 20 are the only ones in which animal products are major sources of calories. In Class 2, meat is virtually absent from the diet; wheat is die major source of calories, but millet and sorghum, and rice are also consumed by some 43 DIETARY PATTERNS MAJOR SOURCE(S) OF CALORIES^ 1 Wheat, potato, sugar, meat, fats and oils 2 Wheat, millet and sorghum, barley, rice 3 Wheat, maize, barley, rice, fats and oils 4 Wheat, maize, bailey, potato 5 Wheat, maize, rice, sugar ß Wheat, maize, cassava 7 Rice 8 Rice, wheat 9 Rice, maize, sweet potato IMPORTANT SOURCE(S) OF PROTEIN» Beef, pork, mutton, dairy products Dry beans, dry peas, chickpeas, lentils Beef, pork, mutton, dry beans, dry broad beans, chickpeas Dry beans Beef, dry beans Beef, dry beans Dry beans, dry peas Fish, soybeans Pork, fish, soybeans, peanuts 10Rice, maize, sweet potato, coconuts, cassava 11Rice maize, bananas, yams, cassava, sugar 12Maize 13Maize, wheat, potato 14Maize, millet and sorghum 15Millet and sorghum, maize, rice, yams, cocoyams, sweet potato, cassava, bananas 16Millet and sorghum, rice, cassava, coconuts 17Millet and sorghum, wheat, maize, potato 18Barley 19Cassava, yams, taro, bananas, coconuts 20Animal fats, wheat Uninhabited Areas Fish, soybeans, peanuts, dry beans Dry beans, dry peas Dry beans Beef, dry beans Dry beans, dry peas, dry broad beans, chickpeas, lentils Dry beans, dry peas, peanuts Fish, dry beans, lentils, peanuts Pork, mutton, soybeans, peanuts Dairy products, mutton, Fish, pork...