I found the vampire warlock I played had the easiest time so far. No preparation of corpses required to satiate needs, and nightvision gives you a huge straightforward advantage. Just slaughter everything and sip on their blood as you go :P If you're determined to play a mortal, the fish people near that starting river can be butchered for something like 10 fish meat per.
Aside from food survival, you have to make wise ability choices especially early on it seems. I would recommend preferring a panic button as your second level pick. Hard to know sometimes when a creature is going to be too much for your current situation and you've got to book it out of there.