Worker perhaps tucked into basic, staple food (8)
I believe the answer is:
plantain
'staple food' is the definition.
'worker perhaps tucked into basic' is the wordplay.
'worker perhaps' becomes 'ant' (worker is a type of ant).
'tucked into' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'basic' becomes 'plain' (I've seen this before).
'ant' placed inside 'plain' is 'PLANTAIN'.
(Other definitions for plantain that I've seen before include "Pal at inn (anag)" , "Cooking banana" , "Shrub; green banana" , "Tropical plant like a banana" , "Banana-like fruit" .)