I understand that the game had to go through a rebirth six years ago and a lot of systems ended up having to come into the new game as is, but that was six years ago. Why is it that I can make a perfectly usable item for myself without worrying about quality as a culinary crafter, but for some reason an NPC in this rebuilding event cares that the food has to be at 50+ quality?

Crafting quality should matter if it is for making HQ gear or items made for players, let people relax a bit if they are doing something like mass producing a bunch stuff for npcs.