Food is a major contributor to survival in Unturned. It is one of five statuses for the player.
The food bar begins at 100% whenever the player respawns, and will gradually decrease over time. When the food meter reaches 0% the player's health will start to drain and they will eventually die of starvation unless they consume food items. The food meter can be increased by consuming any food item. The rate at which the food percentage decreases can be altered by putting points into the Survival skill tree, for the Defense speciality.