I think you would want to be talking about entropy, not energy?
Recycling all the materials you mentioned costs 'energy' (to use your terminology). The same for food: we can use used-up food and a lot of energy and grow new food.
The process for 'recycling' wood is basically the same that for recycling food: you grow some plants. The waste products of used up wood are also basically the same as those for used up food.
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In any case, I don't see how any of this makes food more special than eg petrol or sunlight?
And you can argue that food is only useful, if we have air, ie oxygen to burn it with.
Recycling all the materials you mentioned costs 'energy' (to use your terminology). The same for food: we can use used-up food and a lot of energy and grow new food.
The process for 'recycling' wood is basically the same that for recycling food: you grow some plants. The waste products of used up wood are also basically the same as those for used up food.
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In any case, I don't see how any of this makes food more special than eg petrol or sunlight?
And you can argue that food is only useful, if we have air, ie oxygen to burn it with.