It is especially frustrating as the pre-0.36 Ore production was the result of the choice by the developer to double the rate because they determined (I guess!) that it was too low. So typically in terms of balance, if something was too low at first, but in their view too high just before, you usually aim somewhere in the middle; not revert back to the previous rate that supposedly was too low.
As you say, the reduction to Ore could have been offset if they decided to address the issue with Food. Taking away half the food production doesn’t resolve the issue that Food is still practically a dead currency, even for players who have been playing a short amount of time. Every time you get food from a chest, that’s an opportunity lost for some other item of value. The Kingdom Food Deal is still a survival of the earliest (after reset) and fosters animosity and frustration about current kingdom benefits. Lots of good ideas have been tossed around about where food expense could be reallocated. It’s a shame not a single idea was implemented in 0.36