Feeding 50,000 people without a planetary supply base

The initial population needs roughly 150 million calories per day, while annual production approaches 60 billion calories once losses are included. Those averages cover both less active passengers and people doing heavy engineering or combat work under severe stress. Food then has to travel from agricultural ships to liners and freighters in a limited shuttle fleet. A transport failure could create shortages and unrest because the ships cannot all carry comfortable reserves. The same shuttles are needed for other work, making distribution capacity as important as crop yield.