Actually (in regards to 2A) it wasn't so bad as long as you built your cities around food resources. Sure, it limits your freedom somewhat, but it also makes sense. This is a ruined and decaying land where your sovereign must imbue part of them-self into restoring the land just so people can live on it. So if you build a few cities around fertile land, apiaries, an oasis, etc, you should be generating enough carry-over food to build some larger cities without, to grab other useful resources and/or hold strategic ground.

In 2B this is much harder, granted. No fisheries, that I have noticed, no caravans, means you sovereign has to do most of the leg-work, which I find a bit tedious, but hey, this is the beta.

I'm sure when the game is finished, like other Stardock games, you'll be able to specify the frequency of resources, in this case food resources.  Furthermore, you can _create_ food resources via magic.  So I don't think it's going to be a game breaker.

And if it hasn't changed, and I have not noticed that it has, Pioneers can grab remote resources, non-city based, and get .5 output until a City creeps in or is established.

The Food necessity is just that, a necessity and does it job of curbing easily built and Large City Spam.

I do miss caravans this build thought.