Food priority

[Dameblanche]

Is there a way to force your people to eat certain foods? I made them yummy stews but they seem to let them rot on the floor and still eat dried mushrooms instead.

[dissent]

How is it possible that people eat dried mushrooms before ANYTHING? Here is a list of things my people will eat before dried mushrooms:

1. Rotting eels
2. Poop pebbles (not raisins...)
3. Straw
4. Gravel marinated in a poop-hole for a week
5. Flax seeds drenched in cat urine
6. The wet hide from a dead and putrid cow, rubbed vigorously with wood ash, dipped in methylated spirits and then dragged over rocks and through thorn bushes to tenderise it

If you have managed to get people to eat dried mushrooms when there is anything else edible available - anything at all - then that is Steam achievement-worthy. Well done!

[egeslean05]

Originally posted by dissent:

How is it possible that people eat dried mushrooms before ANYTHING? Here is a list of things my people will eat before dried mushrooms:

1. Rotting eels
2. Poop pebbles (not raisins...)
3. Straw
4. Gravel marinated in a poop-hole for a week
5. Flax seeds drenched in cat urine
6. The wet hide from a dead and putrid cow, rubbed vigorously with wood ash, dipped in methylated spirits and then dragged over rocks and through thorn bushes to tenderise it

If you have managed to get people to eat dried mushrooms when there is anything else edible available - anything at all - then that is Steam achievement-worthy. Well done!

Honestly it seems that in every game I play of this they prefer dried mushrooms. I'd love to see a food priority list added, that way I can put dried mushrooms 2nd to last and mushrooms last (so I can turn them into dried mushrooms).

[sakasiru]

I have seven mushrooms left in my freezer for years now because no one will eat them unless I would let my people starve, and even then they would probably prefer to eat a dead rabbit they find behind some bushes. I don't even bother with dried mushrooms. What are you doing to make theam eat this stuff?

[sbhink805]

Originally posted by dissent:

How is it possible that people eat dried mushrooms before ANYTHING? Here is a list of things my people will eat before dried mushrooms:

1. Rotting eels
2. Poop pebbles (not raisins...)
3. Straw
4. Gravel marinated in a poop-hole for a week
5. Flax seeds drenched in cat urine
6. The wet hide from a dead and putrid cow, rubbed vigorously with wood ash, dipped in methylated spirits and then dragged over rocks and through thorn bushes to tenderise it

If you have managed to get people to eat dried mushrooms when there is anything else edible available - anything at all - then that is Steam achievement-worthy. Well done!

Where did you get this information. I have all those things and mushrooms and they eat mushrooms before any of that.

[Philtre]

Originally posted by sbhink805:

Where did you get this information. I have all those things and mushrooms and they eat mushrooms before any of that.

In general, they will eat food in the order in which it spoils. So they will eat berries and fresh mushrooms (which spoil very quickly) before anything else. Dried mushrooms, however, do not spoil, and will by default be eaten dead last. However, food choice is influenced by how far away the food is, so if you have your dried mushrooms stored conveniently close to their living quarters while all of your other food is stored further away, they may choose to eat the dried mushrooms anyway. You can adjust this by having a little bit of storage (one or two slots worth) placed near their hangout areas, set specifically for whatever you want them to eat and set at high priority so it stays stocked.

[dissent]

I can't get my people to eat fresh mushrooms either. I never pick them but sometimes get them when I do Clear All on trees in Fall. They just sit in storage until they go off.

[sbhink805]

I meant dried mushrooms, I've never seen them eat raw ones, but I generally have the food issues handled which is why I might not see them eat Flax seeds drenched in cat urine.

[dissent]

I was responding to Philtre's point that they will eat fresh mushrooms before they go off due to them prioritising perishable foods. I haven't had that happen. If I have mushrooms, fresh or dried, the only way I can get anybody to eat them is by literally having nothing else. If you can get your people to eat mushrooms in any form, good for you. I haven't been able to do it.

Berries they will eat with relish. And, as Philtre notes, they'll polish those off first because the berries will go off before cooked meat and other more robust foods. But my clanfolk are simply not interested in mushrooms, even if they are about to go off. They will eat the fresher meat instead.

[TechRabbit]

Every food has a hidden "desirability meter" and dried mushrooms has the least desirability I believe, there is something different going on with your save.

[Philtre]

Originally posted by dissent:

But my clanfolk are simply not interested in mushrooms, even if they are about to go off. They will eat the fresher meat instead.

That's odd. In saves where I have my perishable foods all stored in the same place, they'll walk right past the cooked meat/eels to eat the fresh mushrooms, to the point that I have to power-harvest the things if I want to build up a good stock of dried ones.

[dissent]

Mine used to eat fresh mushrooms. They weren't as popular as berries but they were eaten. Usually, as you say, if they were about to go off. Then at one point, it seemed to stop. I don't know if it was a particular update/patch or just me going about things in a different way. Travellers/day workers also used to eat them but, for me anyway, not any more.

[sakasiru]

Originally posted by dissent:

I was responding to Philtre's point that they will eat fresh mushrooms before they go off due to them prioritising perishable foods. I haven't had that happen. If I have mushrooms, fresh or dried, the only way I can get anybody to eat them is by literally having nothing else. If you can get your people to eat mushrooms in any form, good for you. I haven't been able to do it.

Berries they will eat with relish. And, as Philtre notes, they'll polish those off first because the berries will go off before cooked meat and other more robust foods. But my clanfolk are simply not interested in mushrooms, even if they are about to go off. They will eat the fresher meat instead.

My experience is exactly the same. But my clan will even prefer berries in cold storage to stew on the table, so it's not just preferring food that goes off soon, they are just crazy for berries.

[sbhink805]

One thing not mentioned yet, is where the food is stored or put for eating. I see in the description for the serving table that it makes food on it more appealing. Is everyone using those? I have a couple but some food is else where in presumable less desirable location.

[dissent]

I don't use the Serving Table at all. I keep all food in the cold room, then I don't need to worry about spoilage at all, or extra tasks to keep refilling the Serving Table. It also costs Ideas points which are better used elsewhere.

[sbhink805]

I use them, in fact, I use 4 as they don't hold much, but they certainly were not a priority. I have everything unlocked in my present game.