Guide:Getting food
Gathering food is very important in survival mode and can be done in several ways.
FOOD OVERVIEW
You start with 32 apples, 30 wheat seeds, and 16 steaks Food is used after pawns take damage, complete tasks and are slightly hungry, or anytime when they are very hungry. Each pawn has their own hunger bar similar to the players bar in vanilla Minecraft.
FORESTERS
Food can be gathered with foresters which will wander around your fortress collecting basic food and saplings. In order to hire a forester you need to first construct a forester house. then hire a forester through the manage professions button. Foresters are the best idea for food when starting a fortress as they do not need any additional infrastructure other than their house.
NOTE : Getting all the different types of seeds is very easy with foresters.
FARMERS
Food can also be obtained with farmers which are unlocked by having a forester house AND having a farm building. Farmers will wander by the fire if no plants are ready to harvest. Once a plant has reached full or a block plant (pumpkins and melons) appear in a farm the farmer will go to harvest it. The Farming Zone is a selection zone when farm buildings are too small, the zones make farmland and water at regular intervals. Farmers are good for a large fortress as they do not require much actual farmers just a lot of farms.
FISHERMEN
Food can be gathered with fishermen which are unlocked by owning a forester house AND owning a fisher cottage. Fishermen do not "hang" by the campfire during the day like farmers do, instead they spend the day fishing. fishermen get fish slower than players do however their food can be cooked unlike the forester. Fishermen are a decent way of getting food throughout the entire playthrough.
WARRIORS, ARCHERS, AND KNIGHTS
If your fortress is very low on food you may want to consider harvesting local wild livestock (Cows, pigs, sheep, etc.). This is a bad way for getting food normally however it does prove very useful in emergencies as long as you have a blacksmith or the soon to be added cook so your pawns can eat it.
UNRELEASED/UPCOMING CONTENT
As of beta 1.12.1 there is a lot of planed professions for food such as Baker, Shepheard, Stablemen, Butcher, and Cook. Certain professions confirm animal transport and harvesting as well as certain pawns riding horses