Surprisingly, parliament drops standard for food generally (7)
I believe the answer is:
aliment
'food generally' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'surprisingly parliament drops standard' is the wordplay.
'surprisingly' is an anagram indicator (a surprising ordering of the letters).
'drops' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'standard' becomes 'par' (standard of play in golf).
'parliament' with 'par' taken out is 'liament'.
'liament' with letters rearranged gives 'ALIMENT'.
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for aliment that I've seen before include "Something which nourishes - meal tin (anag)" , "Old word for food" , "Sustenance" , "Nourishment" .)