I'm hungry. How can I reliably find meat?

Currently meat drops at a 50% rate when using bows. This is getting boosted to 70% as well as getting a small chance to drop when using other weapons.

Monsters now have a 70% chance to drop meat when killed with a hunting weapon, up from 50%

Added hunting knife weapon that also makes monsters drop meat

Monsters now have a small chance to drop meat when killed with normal weapons.

As Katustrawfic said, killing a monster with a bow, any bow, has a chance to drop meat. Upgrade to an iron bow if you want the process to go faster. Drop rates are being buffed.

However, there is a better way to eat.

You start with a collection of seeds from plants that only your species can eat. You can build a stone hoe with some stone and wood. Till the land with your hoe, and plant your seeds.

You can also pick plants out of the ground with "e", which is a very reliable way to get lots of food.

Use the plants: both the seeds that you get from the beginning, and the other seeds you find on random planets can be used to make food.

Just build a small farm either on your home planet or on your spaceship.

This is a quick source of food, and you can regrow with the seeds you get after harvesting the plants.