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Afamine food orpoverty food is any inexpensive or ready available food used tonourish people in times ofhunger andstarvation, whether caused byextreme poverty, such as duringeconomic depression or war, or by natural disasters such asdrought.

Foods associated with famine need not be nutritionally deficient, or unsavory. People who eat famine food in large quantity over a long period of time may become averse to it over time. In times of relative affluence, these foods may become the targets of social stigma and rejection. For example, cultures that consider cats and dogs to be taboo foods have historically consumed them during times of famine.^{[citation needed]}

The characterization of some foodstuffs as "famine" or "poverty" food can be social. For example,lobster and othercrustaceans have been considered poverty food in some societies and luxury food in others depending on the time period and situation.^{[citation needed]}

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A number of foodstuffs have been strongly associated with famine, war, or times of hardship throughout history:

• Thebreadnut or Maya nut was cultivated by the ancientMayas but is largely regarded as a poverty food in modern Central America.
• InPolynesia, plants from the genusXanthosoma, known locally asʻape, were considered famine food and used only when thetaro crop failed.^[1]
• Several species of ediblealgae, includingdulse,channeled wrack and Irish moss (Chondrus crispus), were eaten by coastal peasants during theGreat Famine inIreland of 1846–1848. Further inland, famine foods includedstinging nettle,wild mustard,sorrel, andwatercress.^[2][3][4][5] In the area ofSkibbereen, people resorted to eatingdonkey meat, earning the nickname "Donkey Aters" (Eaters) for people in the area.^[6] Others atedogs,cats,corncrakes, rottenpigs, and evenhuman flesh.^[7][8] The consumption ofsilverweed,sea anemones,wild carrot,sloes,pignut,common limpet,snails,dock leaves,sycamore seeds,laurel berries,holly berries,dandelion, juices ofred clover, andheather blossoms are also recorded.^{[9][10][11][12]} Many accounts of the Famine mention people dying with green stains around their mouths from eating grass or other green plants.^[13][14]
• Sego lily bulbs were eaten by theMormon pioneers when their food crops failed.
• Tulip bulbs andbeetroots were eaten in the German-occupied parts of the Netherlands during the "hunger winter" of 1944–45.
• During a number offamines in Russia and the Soviet Union,nettle,orache, and other types of wild plants were used to make breads or soups.^[15]
• InIceland, rural parts ofSweden, and WesternFinland, mushrooms were not widely eaten beforeWorld War II. They were viewed as food for cows and were also associated with the stigma of being a wartime and poverty food.^{[citation needed]}
• In times of famine inScandinavia, the cambium (phloem) of deciduous trees was dried, ground, and added to extend what grain flour was available, to createbark bread. This is thought to be aSami tradition.
• The wordAdirondack, describing the indigenous peoples that lived in theAdirondack Mountains inNew York, is thought to come from theMohawk word 'ha-de-ron-dah' meaning 'eaters of trees'. This name was said to be used by theIroquoians as a derogatory term for groups ofAlgonquians who did not practice agriculture and therefore sometimes had to eat tree bark to survive harsh winters.^[16]
• Cat meat was eaten in the northern Italian regions ofPiedmont,Emilia-Romagna, andLiguria in times of famine, such as during World War II.^[17]
• Likewise, during theSiege of Paris in theFranco-Prussian War, the menu in Parisian cafes was not limited to cats but also dogs, rats, horses, donkeys, camels, and even elephants.
• During theJapanese occupation of Malaya, due to military food stockpiling and restrictive rationing policies, the locals resorted to surviving on hardy tuberous roots such ascassava,sweet potato, andyam.
• During theBattle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II, Filipino and American servicemen resorted to consumingdog meat,monkey meat, and the meat ofmonitor lizards (referred to as "iguana lizards" in the source),pythons, mules, horses, parrots, owls, crocodiles andcarabaos as their supply of food dwindled.^[18]
• In thesemi-arid areas of theBrazilianNortheast, the shoots and leaves of cactusOpuntia cochenillifera are normally used to feed the livestock (cattle andgoats). But during longdroughts, people may use them as a last resort.^[19]
• Historically in theMaldives the leaves of seaside trees such as theoctopus bush and thebeach cabbage were often used as famine food.^[20]
• Thecaper, the flower bud and berry ofCapparis spinosa species, has been a famine food in southern Ethiopia and Sudan as well as in the 1948siege of west Jerusalem.^[21][22]
• During theCambodian humanitarian crisis, people atetarantulas, scorpions, silkworms, and grasshoppers.Fried tarantulas later became a delicacy popular with tourists in the Cambodian town ofSkuon.^[23]
• Morinda citrifolia is sometimes called a "starvation fruit", implying it was used byindigenous peoples in theSouth Pacific as emergency food during times offamine.
• InHaiti,mud cookies are sometimeseaten by the poorest people to avoid starvation. Similar mud cookies are eaten inZambia,Guinea andCameroon for their nutritional content.
• DuringGerman occupation of Poland in World War II people were makingflour andcoffee fromoaknuts. Acorns were also a substitute for potatoes.^[24][25]
• Hominy became a poverty food during theGreat Depression in the United States. Because of this, the dish is still taboo in the Southern United States, particularly among survivors of that period.^[26]
• Malva pusilla (small mallow) is known to Palestinians as a famine food calledkhobeza (Arabic:خُبَيْزَةkhubayzah, literally 'small bread'). In April 2024, theNew York Times reported that Gazans under siege were eating it to stave off starvation.^[27]
• Lard fell out of general use in the late 20th century due to being considered less healthy than vegetable oils, rendering it a stigma of being a poverty food used by those that have no other cooking fat options.

• Government cheese
• High energy biscuit
• Khubeza patties
• Jiuhuang Bencao, 1406 Chinese illustrated herbal for famine foods
• Peasant foods
• Staple food
• Taboo food and drink
• Turnip Winter

• Media related toFamine food at Wikimedia Commons

• Foods by type
• Famines
• Malnutrition

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