I started several worlds and results were similar. Investigating every single bush to check if it's ripe is a real pain, because the berry pixels are... small. Foraging berries, vegetables, and grain is hampered with the new quantity changes. Fishing is cool - until all the spots around me were depleted. Finding mushrooms in open areas and forests were a huge help this time around, as well as hunting. I made the smart choice of firing a pot and bowls very soon to stretch food out longer. I began farming as soon as I settled, as I KNEW it would be a struggle (as intended, anyway). Makes for a great single player game.
However, I try to play in the mindset of more than just myself. Multiplayer. Or, someone already being in an area before I show up. Starving to death and running back from spawn, and potentially starving by the time I get back, may become a common fate. Since berry bushes are so unreliable and take freakin' six months to a year to grow from cutting, they're practically not worth it unless someone's dedicated to collecting and planting them. Traits be damned; two berries are better than none. We're supposed to fertilize them, too?!
Trying to mine copper early wasn't a good idea, because it takes time + energy = more food. Setting up a protein farm like chickens and pigs were a dud, because that's just more mouths to feed. Heck, fighting anything at all was a bad choice. Getting hit meant more energy to heal, which just meant more food. Simply zero, absolutely zero to engage with enemies unless they're animal meatbags.
Might as well enable a cannibalism mechanic.