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Keeping your people fed is one of the most important systems to master inStronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition.Without food, your popularity drops, your workers leave, and your economy crumbles. But feeding your growing population isn’t just about placing random farms, it’s about building efficient supply lines and choosing the right food types.
Each food type in the game has its own benefits, but not all are equal. Bread offers value throughout the entire game, while Apples are ideal when you first start. We’ll break down every food production method, when to use it, and how to maximize your Granary without overloading your workers.
Types Of Food Production
There arefour food typesyou can produce:Apples, Bread, Cheese, and Meat. Each has its own costs, setup time, and value. Understandingwhich food typeto build firsthelps keep your granary full, and your popularity high.
Apples
Apple Orchardsare thecheapest and fastestway to get food on the table. Each orchardrequires only one building and one worker,which makes it a perfect way toincrease your food supplyearlyin the game.
Once you’ve built a stable economy, considerreplacing some orchardswith abread production chainfor a better food engine.
However, theyaren’t great long termcompared to Bread or Cheese, and too manyorchards can take up valuable land.Apple Orchards canonly be placed ongrassy terrain, which limits your options depending on the map.
For the best results,build them in large open patchesof fertile landclose to your Granary.This keeps walking distance short and asteady stream of foodgoing from harvest to storage.
Bread
Bread takes more investmentto produce but pays off with thehighest food yieldper unit of land.You’ll needWheat Farms, a Mill, and multiple Bakeriesworking in tandem, with the following being the best general setup:
This production line cansustain up to 80 peasantsif positioned correctly. WheatFarms can only be placed on grassy terrainand require a fair amount of space to operate.
For best results, place yourMill as close to the Stockpile as possible,so workers spendless time hauling wheatand more time grinding it into flour.Bakeriesshould be positionedbetween the Stockpile and the Granaryto ease the flow of goods. Workers will collect flour from one and deliver bread to the other.
Once up and running,bread production beats every other food source, and is a great way to get theLord V. Foodachievement.
Cheese
Dairy Farms produce Cheese, which counts as a food type for your Granary. They alsoprovide cows for Tanner’s Workshops, making them useful forleather armorproduction. However, the foodoutput from Dairy Farms is slower than that of Apple Orchards or Bread chains,so it’s best used as asupplementary source, rather than your primary food strategy.
Dairy Farmsmust bebuilt on grassland, similar to Wheat Farms and Orchards, and each one takes up a moderate footprint. Place themnear the Granaryto shorten delivery paths, especially if you’re using the same cows fornearby Tanners.Cheese works well on maps with limited grassland, and it addsvaluable food varietyused to increase your popularity.
Meat
Hunter’s Posts generate Meatby sending workers tohunt deeraround the map. They’reinexpensive to build, but their efficiency variesdepending on how many deer are on a map.
If there are no deer, or if they’ve already been hunted out, meat production stops entirely, asdeer do not respawn over time.
Hunter’s Posts can bebuilt on almost any terrain, and are most effective whenplaced close to herdsof deer. Always scout the map early tolocate deer populations before committing to meat production. While not reliable throughout an entire game, meat can serve as astrong temporary food sourceand helps diversify your Granary.
Hops Farm and Brewery
Whilenot a direct food source,Ale plays a major role insustaining high popularity,especially when running a no ration tax economy. Toproduce Ale, you’ll need aHops Farm, Brewery, and Inn.
Hops Farms can only be placed ongrassy land,like Wheat or Apple Farms. Each onesupplies hops to a Brewery, whichconverts it into Ale. The Ale is thenserved at the Innto increase popularity. A solidratio to start withis two Hops Farms, one Brewery, and one Inn. Scale up as your population grows.
For the best results:
Whencombined with Bread or a food variety bonus, Ale can push popularity high enough tosupport maximum tax income, letting you build and expand faster.
How To Streamline Food Production
Tokeep your economy thrivingand your people happy, you needmore than just a few farmsscattered across the map. Streamlining your food production meansthinking strategically about placement, scaling, and supply chains.
At thebeginning of the game,startyour food production withApple Orchards. Place them onopen grassland near your Granaryto reduce delivery time. Onceyour economy is stable, and you’ve built up a modest surplus, begintransitioning into Bread.
Only add Cheese or Meat if youneed food varietyor have cows or deer readily available.
Bread should become yourmain food supplyfor the middle to late game. BuildWheat Farms on fertile ground, place your Mill next to your Stockpile, and position Bakeries between the Stockpile and Granary tokeep flour and bread movingefficiently. With this setup, you canfeed large populationsand even runwithout taxes or rationswith support from ale or religion bonuses.
