Coming back to my original post, I really want to know/understand what 食料 actually is. Food, yes, but is it raw food, is it cooked food, is it similar to 惣菜 or closer to a complete meal? And what is the difference between 食料、食材 and 材料? I mean, veggies are essentially a kind of food, but does that image represent the meaning of the word appropriately?
Also the image for 食品 only shows potato chips or the likes. Does that actually qualify as 食品?
食料(1)
食べ
物。また,
食べ
物になる
材料。
Food. Also ingredients used to make food.
(2)
食べ
物の
代金。
食費。
Food cost. Food expenses.
食材料理の
材料。
Coocking ingredients.
食品人が
食用にする
品物の
総称。
直接料理の
材料としたり、そのまま
食べたりすることができる
食用の
品。
飲食品。
Generic term for goods used as food. Edible goods that can be used directly as a coocking ingredient, or eaten as they are. Food and drink articles.
材料(1)ある
物を
作るとき,もととして
用いるもの。
資材。「
建築材料」「
工作の
材料」
Something used as base when making something. (raw) material.
(2)
研究・
調査などのために
取り
扱うもの。「アサガオを
研究材料とする」
Things handled for study, examination and the like.
(3)
芸術作品などの
題材。「
小説の
材料をさがす」
Theme of artworks and the like.
(4)ある
判断などをするためのもととなるもの。「
反論の
材料」「
格好の
攻撃材料となる」
The thing used as the base for taking a decision and the like.
(5)
取引で,
相場を
動かす
要因。「
好材料」「
悪材料」
In a business, the prime factor that moves market prices.
Hopefully my translations of the words meaning are correct.
From this, it appears that
材料 has a wider range of uses and is not limited to food while the words starting with
食 mostly are.
食材 is like a
材料 but limited to food.
食品 is a more generic term for food/food products and apply to all that is edible.
And
食料 is just
食料 xD
Despite this dictionary entry, I guess the only way to really know is to be immersed in the japanese daily life and get a feel for how and when the word is used, so for us even with dictionary help such as
https://kotobank.jp, is still hard to determine what is the best image to represent something :)
Basically, let's hope japanese people pass by and fix our images xD