On the hard game I am playing at the moment, I finally lost my weakest villager, but noticed that my problems mainly occurred when I had the game off.....and the farm started being productive or went into fallow while I was not watching. While the food levels were around 200, the weakened villagers were definitely getting better....slowly. But yes, my former builder was on research duty for a long time, and it was hard to even keep him yellow. I have managed to get about 500 food, but that was becuase I saw the farm start, had everyone farming, except the weak ones, and was fortunate to have a long harvest. Usually it seems to be about 200-300 units in the bin at the end of the season

Savi