I get that they needed a method to gatekeep long rests... this is, after all, a consequence of not having any time keeping (which would be the best way to gate long rests.) Unfortunately, this creates a Food Quest mini-game that doesn't sound all that appealing.
I suspect that the resources are either going to be overly abundant (undercutting the purpose) or overly scare (becoming an annoyance.) But they really painted themselves into a corner here so I guess we shouldn't be surprised that they are struggling to paint their way out.