This seems very strange indeed. From my more or less casual observation the food consumption is fairly regular, on the order of 20-40 food units per villager per year. And the consumption seems to vary with the level of difficultly selected... food going faster on Hard than on Easy or Normal.

It really sounds like a time/clock glitch of some sort, for there is no way that that much food could be harvested in 5 minutes, let alone consumed by only a few villagers.

Jer

Improved: Almost works the second time. See Upgrade.