This game is impossible. No matter what I do, I can't make any robots, so I can't make any food
update: never mind. Thanks for the help, Jackie Lang!
A planet starts producing its resource as soon as you colonize it, and you can export it right away. Import its requirements to increase happiness and production.
Tip: the lab (bottom right) takes algae and creates food and you can place it wherever you want.
I always begin by looking for an algae-producing planet close to an earthlike planet and connect them in a triangle with a lab. It feeds itself