Food

Food is one of the basic Resources in Surviving Mars and is necessary to keep Colonists alive.

Consumption

Each Colonist eats 0.2 Food per meal, approximately once a day. They will eat 0.4 if they hadn't eaten in the previous Sol or they have the Glutton trait.

A colonist will eat when visiting a Grocer, Small Grocer, Diner or Mega Mall to satisfy one of the only two interests that are shared by all Colonists, Food. When hungry and unable to eat from one of those buildings Colonists will just take Food from a nearby stockpile, although with a −3 (unprepared meal) penalty to Comfort.

If unable to eat for more than 36 hours, a colonist will starve and lose 25 health per day.

Crops

Crops are the main way of producing Food. They also produce small amounts of Oxygen. Crops require constant Water and if there is a shortage the crops will start to decay, decreasing their harvest. Water requirements can be reduced by 50% with the Dry Farming Breakthrough.

Hydroponic Farm Crops

Crop	Growth time (Sols)	Water consumption	Optimal harvest	Optimal harvest per sol	Oxygen production	Requirements
Leaf Crops	4	0.6	12	3	0.1	None
Microgreens	4	0.3	10	2.5	0.1
Wheat Grass	1	0.6	2.5	2.5	0.1
Algae	1	0.6	2	2	1	Utility Crops
Kelp	1	0.6	3.2	3.2	0.5	Gene Adaptation
Rice	4	0.9	15	3.75	0.1
Vegetables	4	0.5	12.5	3.125	0.1
Giant Rice	4	0.9	20	5	0.1	Gene Adaptation Giant Crops
Giant Leaf Crops	4	0.6	16	4	0.1	Giant Crops
Giant Wheat Grass	1	0.6	3.5	3.5	0.1
Seed Crops	1	0.6	1	1	0.1	Martian Vegetation
Ganymede Rice	1	1	6	6	0.5	Beyond Earth Mystery

Farm Crops

Each Farm has a Soil Quality rating that encourages crop rotation. It starts at 50% and can be increased or decreased depending on the type of crops planted. Performance scales directly with Soil Quality and the Farm gains +50 Performance at 100% Soil Quality and -50 Performance at 0% Soil Quality.

Each Farm in a Dome can increase its Soil Quality by +2.4% each day up to 90% maximum when all the Crops are turned off. No workers, power or water is required for this. This works on Farms if the Dome is also turned off.

Crop	Growth time (Sols)	Water consumption	Optimal harvest	Optimal harvest per sol	Oxygen production	Soil Quality	Requirements
Potatoes	5	2.4	55	11	0.3	−10%	None
Soybeans	5	2	40	8	0.3	+10%
Wheat	2	1.6	17	8.5	0.3	No change
Cover Crops	5	2.4	12	2.4	0.3	+40%	Utility Crops
Corn	5	3	70	14	0.3	−10%	Gene Adaptation
Fruit Trees	8	2.4	88	11	1	+10%
Quinoa	2	1.6	22	11	0.3	No change
Giant Corn	5	3	110	22	0.3	−10%	Gene Adaptation Giant Crops
Giant Potatoes	5	2.4	80	16	0.3	−10%	Giant Crops
Giant Wheat	2	1.6	23	11.5	0.3	No change
Seed Crops	5	2	5	1	0.3	+10%	Martian Vegetation
Curetatos	5	2.4	10	2	0.3	−30%	Wildfire Cure
Cactus	0.04	1	1	25	1	No change	Sample Mods
Crops meat	3	0.3	30	10	0	−10%	Sample Mods

Open Farm Crops

Each Open Farm has a Soil Quality rating determined by terraforming that can be increased or decreased by the grown Crops. It does not affect the harvest but it limits the Crops that can be grown. Researching the "Resilient Vegetation" breakthrough will halve temperature and water requirements of all crops.

Crop	Min Soil Quality	Growth time (Sols)	Seeds consumption	Harvest	Harvest per Sol	Soil Quality	Terraforming requirements
Herbs	10%	1	0.1	1	1	+10%	20% Temperature 10% Water
Potato	25%	2	0.6	7	3.5	−20%	20% Temperature 10% Water
Cover Crops	10%	5	0.1	0.5	0.1	+30%	30% Temperature 15% Water
Leaf Crops	20%	1	0.2	4	4	−10%	20% Temperature 30% Water
Wheat	60%	3	0.4	12	4	+5%	70% Temperature 50% Water

Breeds

Animal Breeds are a second source of Food available in from the Ranch and Outside Ranch buildings from the Project Laika DLC. Animals require constant Water and Oxygen and if there is a shortage the animals will start to die, decreasing their harvest. Unlike other food buildings, ranches do not benefit from being worked by Botanists.

Breed	Growth time (sols)	Water consumption	Oxygen consumption	Optimal harvest	Optimal harvest per sol	Building
Chicken	1	0.3	0.3	5	5	Ranch
Rabbit	2	0.6	0.6	15	7.5
Goose	4	1.2	0.6	45	11.25
Turkey	5	0.9	0.9	60	12
Goat	6	1.5	2	90	15	Outside Ranch
Pig	5	4	2.5	100	20
Cow	12	3	4.5	300	25
Ostrich	8	2	3	150	18.75