Aye, more ways to survive is a good thing. It just feels backwards to have to work hard to get it worse. Then again, simplicity are quite often the best way. I suppose this food poisoning thing is one of those things , after all, it's just a meter to fill.
edit: Still, i suppose one can farm other stuff then food, like coffee. Perhaps even sell the farmed and prepared food.
But you're not getting it worse. I'm not going to say I've looked at all the canned food, but so far everything I've found has had 15 Max Stam and 7 Health at BEST for stats. So my choice is, take this can of chili and eat it for 15 food and 7 health, or save it, combine with 1 cornmeal, 1 water, and 5 meat to get a chili dog worth 53 food, and 30 health. Or take Vegetable Stew, since it's pure farming: 31 food, 15 health, 20 water. 2 each potatoes, corn, and mushrooms, and a bottle of water. So twice as much food and health AND a drink. And you're not limited to what you can find or buy, quantity-wise.
For everyone else on the "food-poisoning from fresh makes no sense" bandwagon, one, you've clearly never seen what happens when canned food actually goes bad in a toxic way (hint: botulism will make the can blow up). Also, has it not occurred to anyone that you can only plant in soil made from nitrates and DEAD ZOMBIE FLESH?
In fairness, I may have been one of two or three people bitching that canned food made you sick in previous alphas, since it's exactly the opposite of how it works in reality. If a canned good has gone bad, you will KNOW it.
Honestly, my only gripe is that the percentage is probably a tad high for the observed situation, but if it is, that's for better gameplay.