If you are having trouble keeping your fortress fed, then you should build a fishpond and set a dwarf on repeatedly catching fish. There are a couple of reactions that don't require poles, buckets or nets so he should be able to start generating a large amount of fish. This type of fishing uses the Fish Dissection skill and not the standard Fishing one.
Farming should include above ground crops if your biome supports it and you should only plant in spring and summer as anything planted in autumn will die in winter before they can be harvested.
I spend my first two seasons planting the above ground crops which can quickly generate some food. Depending on my OCD at the time, I may micromanage which crops are planted and only specify the food crops first, waiting until one field has completed before moving on to the next.
Moleweasels are also a good source of protein as they breed and mature quickly. Coupled with autobutcher, you should have plenty of food after the first year, especially if you realize that there may be shortcomings and start trading for it. For a long while, I haven't bothered with maintaining a distill beyond emergency needs because I trade for the booze.
And finally, you can turn the harder farming off in the settings which will return many of the differences back to vanilla. (main thing being growing durations, not sure if egg clutches are also affected.)
