Hunting. My strategy revolves around starting with hunting, hoard food while waiting for famine so food price go up to 10 dollars or so. Then sell all hoarded food. To make money while waiting for famine, cure leathers and sell to armorer, it gives good income. To maximise this strategy I do not get mercs until I earned 20-40 in the big famine sell off. I also buy tent so I can camp at hunting spot to not waste time walking there. When hunting is depleting, I fish and train science, academics, domination and medicine. And maybe train one slave.
Oviously you can use just part of this strategy. It gives a faster start if you pick survival skill when making character but not essential since survival improve naturally from hunting and fishing.
If you never get any famine and have hoarded 2k+ food, you could settle for the food price increase from bandits moving into Marsten Avenue. then 6 dollars should be price to aim for.
And you have to transform your raw meat into food rations, otherwise it probably rots away, so I try to avoid having raw meat more than 3-4 days or so, then I go home and make food rations. Not sure if meat actually do rot, I just want to avoid the risk, and if it is unnecessary I write it down to role play. Testing is for people with agency