40d:Food

Food is anything dwarves eat to ward off starvation, but if they are not able to attain sustenance then they will eventually die. The most common foods are meat, fish, crops, and gathered shrubs. Each dwarf has a preference for certain foods.

Eating

A dwarf with the "Eat" task will pick up a unit of food, often according to his or her dietary preferences, then bring it to an available table or chair for consumption. A private room will normally be chosen over a public room; for this reason, note that a dwarf who owns a table-less office but no dining room will complain about the lack of tables, even if a high-quality public dining room is available. This problem is easily solved by adding a table next to such an office-chair (like you would in a dining room). Also note that eating in a high-quality dining room does wonders for a dwarf's mood.

Storage

Food is stored in food stockpiles and can be placed in barrels and, in the case of seeds, bags. Food should be stored indoors, as it will rot if left outside for too long, rendering it inedible and your dwarves hungry.

Cooked food

Raw food can be cooked into meals at a kitchen. The wider the variety of ingredients that a meal contains, the greater the number of dwarves who will have a preference for that meal. Additionally, some foods must be cooked before they can be eaten.

Obtaining food

The possible sources of food are farming, foraging, fishing, trading, butchering animals, hunting, and a few exotic processes. Farming is by far the most reliable, foraging is perhaps the easiest to manage, and fishing is good early in a fortresses' life. If you are constantly experiencing problems with starvation, you are well advised to look into alternate means of procuring food.