> If the government has the means to do that, why is it not providing seeds/saplings etc. of vitamin A containing crops right now? Why do people eat bananas as

> If the government has the means to do that, why is it not providing seeds/saplings etc. of vitamin A containing crops right now? Why do people eat bananas as a staple food now? If you're poor, it's all about the efficiency of calories per dollar. You're hungry and you want something filling, but you don't have a lot to spend. You pick the thing that is going to fill you up. If the staple food right now is the banana, it's because that's what is most efficient to produce. In other areas that is rice, in the US it is corn. The goal is to make the staple food a bit healthier.