What is happening to my food in Banished?

Since you say your people are starving, things are likely to move very quickly. To see what is happening, try the following:

1. Pause the Game when you see someone carrying food from your fields.
2. As I said, things will move quickly. Set your time scale to "x1".
3. Click on the person carrying the goods & Pin or Move aside their window. We want to keep it visible. Select their inventory tab.
4. Click on the "Home" button in that person's window & Pin/Move it for future reference. Select it's inventory tab.
5. Click on the nearest Barn or Market. Pin/Move.
6. Extra Credit: Open the "Status" window to see the Surplus Food number. F21
7. When all that is visible, Unpause the game.

Here's what you should see: When the person arrives at the storage building they will kneel to deposit their load. You should see the inventory move from the person to the building and the "Food" entry on your status window should increment by the amound deposited. By the time they stand back up, they will have decided what to do next. If, as you say, your people are starving, this person's home may be low on food. If this is the case, this person will immediately kneel back down & pick up the food & bring it home. You will see another inventory transfer & a change in the surplus food number. When they arrive at home, they will kneel to deliver it. Again watch for the inventory transfer. As food in homes is not "surplus" the status window will not report this change. By the time the citizen has stood up, they will decide what to do next. If they are personally hungry, they will stand outside their home briefly and consume food from their home. If any is left over, hungry family members will come home after their current task to eat.

Remember that the Food entry in the status bar is for surplus food. To solve your problem you will need to:

1. Fill their bellies.
2. Fill their homes.
3. Work on stockpiling a food surplus in your barns & markets.

You should also be aware that Gatherers in a Forest are some of the most health promoting food producers in the game, providing both fruit & vegetables, 2 of the 4 food groups required for a healthy populous. Though in the end you'll really want to feed your populous with farms and pastures.

If you could provide a couple screenshots it would be helpful. If you see them carrying baskets then it should be going into a barn. Do you have multiple barns? It's possible the food is being put in a barn too far away from your houses. If you only have one, is it full? Look around your barns to see if the food is sitting on the ground.