This really bugs me now too, that the only way to preserve food is to reach level 4/5 cooking and gather up every rotten piece of food possible. If they want to keep this mechanic in, food needs to reach a state to where there is NOTHING salvageable from it, because lets face it, given enough time, its gonna turn into liquid sludge. I know its been said time and time again, but canning would be more realistic and nice, and would actually reward you more for farming (since I assume more brutal growth times will be added). You would defiantly need to go out and find jars, as they would put an effective "cap" on how much you could preserve, allowing a small buffer of excess food, but at the same time, encouraging you to seek alternatives through foraging/fishing/trapping/scavenging. As it is currently, you simply grow as much food as you can possibly plant and save all the rotten food to cook as needed. At least canning would put a cap on how much excess you could keep, as well as being far more realistic. Canning supplies are pretty common in stores and households here in Kentucky. What about a blender and protein juice made of rotten stuff? Would it be possible?