That change was very much needed - even if you used "slave alts" for stuff like digging soil and chopping trees, many other activities couldn't be as easily outsourced. These could drain your Energy and force you to gobble food in wilderness, without a table, to not starve.
The problem: it was added last minute - nowhere in-game is it explained. Even in the forums, it's only present in
this buried Loftar post.