There was a fine range of papers submitted to this Symposium in 1989. The keynote talks were by Keith Botsford in the staples of Italian cooking; the staple foods of the classical world, by Andrew Dalby; and a speculation on whether cuisines based largely on processed foods have any staples at all, by Erica Wheeler. The sorts of foods discussed by the various contributors include rice, maize, polenta, wheat, other grains, potatoes, root crops, beans and herring.