How much food does your colony need?
FoodEasy
Plan harvests, cooking and storage without counting the same calories twice.
Start with daily demand
At the default hunger setting, an ordinary Duplicant needs 1,000 kcal per cycle. Eight need 8,000 kcal. Change the hunger setting and account for individual traits before sizing a farm; a large pantry can hide a recurring deficit.
Mealwood has a running cost
A domesticated Mealwood produces one Meal Lice every three cycles while growing normally and consumes 10 kg of Dirt per cycle. Its 600 kcal harvest averages 200 kcal per cycle: five plants feed one ordinary Duplicant, before missed harvests, stifled growth or spoilage. Eight Duplicants therefore need 40 plants and 400 kg of Dirt per cycle at that baseline.
Count the recipe, not just the meal
Two Meal Lice plus 50 kg of Water make one Liceloaf at the Microbe Musher: 1,200 kcal becomes 1,700 kcal, at the cost of liquid, power and work. The recipe also accepts Mucin instead of Water; those liquids are alternatives, not two simultaneous costs.
| Food | Calories | Quality | Spoils in |
|---|---|---|---|
 Meal Lice | 600 kcal | -1 | 8 cycles |
 Liceloaf | 1,700 kcal | 0 | 8 cycles |
 Pickled Meal | 1,800 kcal | -1 | 32 cycles |
 Fried Mushroom | 2,800 kcal | 1 | 8 cycles |
 Gristle Berry | 2,000 kcal | 1 | 8 cycles |
 Barbeque | 4,000 kcal | 3 | 4 cycles |
Three Meal Lice become one Pickled Meal: 1,800 kcal remains 1,800 kcal and quality stays −1. Its base spoil time is 32 cycles, not infinite. Two units of Meat become one Barbeque, increasing 3,200 kcal to 4,000 kcal. Cooking replaces its ingredients; do not count the raw food and cooked result together.
Protect the harvest
Dusk Cap needs Slime rather than irrigation; Bristle Blossom needs Water and light. Check each plant’s growing conditions before choosing it. Leave a food reserve for the first growth period and interruptions. Storage temperature and atmosphere affect decay, so the base spoil time is not a promise for every pantry.