Food should be a need on this server if farming is meant to have any value.
Methods of hunger draining like effects of winter, racial weakness, etc, would make food an actual need. Sprint jumping is one of the most annoying things all players do, it's not immersive and reminds me of a playground, make it so sprint jumping drains hunger at a very high rate.
Food should have an expiration date, if not it would just pile up to amounts that would make it unnecessary to farm at all, and items like the thanic box would become redundant. Make it so that harvesting food like wheat is easy, but other harvests more risky with consequence.
Makes scythes and plows a necessity for farming. Plows could be just a player mounting a cow(called an ox) which follows a designated path, harvesting whatever is harvestable. Scythes should wear and need repair.
Since were here talking about removing nexus, make it so that all gathering trades like farming don't have a lvl/exp system. What the heck is the difference between one mediocre farmer and a masterful one irl that would make their harvest significant? However I think it would be interesting to retain casket drops.
But the real question is, how do we make farming fun? I don't think anyone actually wants to play a serf on this server and plow a field all day, and just "give" their harvests to their skype friends after a few hollers about some "group donation chest" from which they receive a virtual "pat on the back."
I honestly don't think there is a way to make the gathering professions fun. But for the sole purpose of gathering food to meet a need and survive the above should be considered.