You now always start out near a food tile. I'm not against letting the player know that food is tied to city expansion, perhaps by either putting it in the description for the fertile land, or just a quick check when founding a kingdom, and pop up a window saying "Hey, you're not going to be in range of a food tile so your city won't grow". However, doing a popup like this isn't exactly accurate since food is global and not per-city, so it gives the incorrect impression that each city *needs* a food tile or it can't grow, which isn't always the case.

In short.. there's only so much handholding the game can do. My vote would be to put the description in the food tiles that says that food is required for city growth, and since the player now always starts near one it should be enough.

I think tying a farm to the first city is a good start...the rest...I dunno.  I got here in 3a, so it's hard for me to see food as my limiting factor (for me, Materials are always the problem)... however, the idea that food is scarce and heavily contested just fits the theme of the world.  Just needs to be made more clear, with a few more options (I like how the empire can create its own food in small quantities, for example).