I'm not convinced that Research is "less strenuous".

I've been playing at High difficulty and it's really tough getting enough food to keep even five villagers going - hitting 200 available food is the best I've managed. I try to have most villagers farming (Level 2) and one on research. On occassion, I'll have another one Nursing - otherwise they all die of old age before I get anywhere.

Most of my villagers are now in their 30s, and my original researcher died first. Now the current researcher is Weak - a little sliver of red and that's it. Most of the others are weakened but they're still yellow and, as the field gets harvested, I get just about enough food to last until the next harvest. Even the kids are weak - I just hope they last long enough to start work, otherwise I'll be starting again - for the ninth time!

I reckon the farners get to eat the best food before it goes into the bin at all - and the poor researchers get stuck with whatever's left