Food

Food is used to feed population. Food is instantly generated and consumed; it is not stockpiled.

Generation
Population assigned as farmers generate Food. The basic amount is determined by the planet climate.

Some buildings also generate Food and/or affect the amount of Food generated per farmer.

If there is excess food in an empire, freighters will automatically transport Food each to colonies that do not generate enough local Food to feed their population. Each freighter can transport 1 unit of Food regardless of distance.

Consumption
Each population consumes 1 point of Food. If there is insufficient food, the deficit is applied to the colony's growth rate, which may cause it to shrink.

Any excess Food on a colony is turned into income at the rate of 1 BC. However, the flat income generated this way cannot exceed the amount of Food consumed by the population.

Population
One unit of population is equal to 30 growth units.