I spend most games with a ton of rotten food sitting around in my fridge. And while I know I can use it in cooking when I reach level 4 at that skill, that's still quite some time where it's not really doing anything. So I was trying to think of some other way it could be used, and came up with zombie bait. Crafting would require some kind of rotten food, a bag (shopping, tote, garbage,) and something to tie the bag shut (twine, sheet rope, wire, etc.) After crafting, the player may use it on a patch of ground, consuming it in the process. After use, zombies would be drawn to that spot for a temporary period of time, exactly like a house alarm. The main use for this in game would be for drawing groups away from places (need to get them clear from your safehouse,) or draw them to you (in case you happened to find a bunch of axes and want to spend the day decapitating everything that comes by.)
