They can. Dwilight currently produces 226% of its demand. Yes, it is autumn. But even considering that, the island produces a steady 13% surplus of food on average. And with the amount currently in granaries, it could feed itself for 24 weeks if all food production dropped to zero this instant.
There is more than enough food around. If you can't find any food, it is not because it doesn't exist.
Does this consider rot? Troop consumption? Monster consumption? Looting? Zuma demands? Seasons that can only be bad or average? I assume it does not. Not to mention lords that can't be bothered to actually sell their surplus.
Assuming all food in in granaries, that's 1% rot per day. And no bad seasons anywhere, and that there aren't any troops, and that the Zuma don't exist, and no hordes spawn, and that everyone's at peace. You start the year in the first day of summer (which is where the surplus starts), with a balance of 0 bushels. Continent-wide, consumption is 100 bushels a day while producing value is, on average, 113 bushels. By the end of the year, you will have produced 9492 bushels of food, consumed 8400 bushels of food, and will have seen 937 bushels of food rot, leaving you with 155 bushels more than you started with.
So assuming the best of scenarios (which is far off reality), Dwilight doesn't produce a 13% surplus on average, but a 1,84% surplus once you include rot.
1,84% continental surplus average, without including food not stored in granaries and rotting faster, food eaten by troops, monsters, or the zuma, and the bad seasons people keep having. Is it that much of a surprise that food is so hard to come by?
(Note: the largest surplus on hand would be on the last day of Summer, with 26 day's worth of consumption, without considering rot. With this scenario, over the year 8% of the food produced rots.)
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