When .55 was released to stable, the newly implemented CLE (Central Loot Economy) was glitched forcing nearly all the loot the be in the High-Northern region. The devs then turned off CLE and reimplemented the old method of spawning loot.
If your still having issues, then I reccomend going to a very-very small populated server and getting loot/food there. 0-5 players if you must. Going to a high pop server looking for food does add a sense of realism, but you always have the choice to go to a smaller pop server.
You can also go to a server that has increased loot. Usually that is implied in the server title. You can go to "Change Server" / Filter and type in "Loot" in the server title. I have found that the "prision island" can have lots of food in bottom floor storage near the cells; not in the cells, but a blue door.
All in all, I haven't had an issue with the reimplementation of the old-method of loot spawn. And the only reason why I had difficulty with .55 is because CLE was broken. Fishing might yeild better results. Check the coastline for boats, they often have Fishing Hooks, Raincoats and Wellies; both forms of cloating are good for keeping you warm too.