I'm not sure if my head was buried in the sand when this first came out, but I thought it was worth posting!

As per a dev thread posted here, certain player-crafted foods offer small bonuses to your stats:

• Meat (Jerky, Sandwich, Grilled): +Strength
• Fish (Jerky, Sandwich, Grilled, Baked, Breaded): +Agility
• Pasta/Casseroles (Meat or Fish): +Stamina
• Fruit (Dried or Candied): +Intelligence
• Nuts and Vegetables (Candied): +Wisdom
• Trail Mix: +Intelligence, +Wisdom
• Sweets (Chocolates, Fudge, Pie, Cake, Muffins, Cookies): +Maximum MP
• Soup, Omelet, and Stew: +Maximum HP