How do you produce more per turn? My planets are at the growth cap, and have food to spare, yet only about 5-10 of that food is going to my global manpower pool. 

Playing as the new faction, do I have to sacrifice my pop for manpower? That seems to be what I'm sensing.

Hi,

The fraction of growth (food) that is sent to manpower is set for the moment, explaining why you see these relatively small numbers. I'll check with Meedoc to see if we can send all the excess food to manpower once the system's pop is full.

Indeed the "Exotic Rations" system action is there so you can forcefully enroll your pop and turn it into manpower ; it's meant to be used in emergencies but you can totally use it to optimize your food output (you'll be seen as a militarist by your pop though :)).

I think it is a good idea. Otherwise, the +Food buildings don't seem to make a lot of sense to build, particularly when I know my Pop Cap is coming in ten turns, making that food building useless for the rest of the game.

A slider would be the obvious choice (not sure how hard to implement). 

I am absolutely obsessed with the game by the way. The art, music, gameplay - everything is amazing. Keep it up!