If you wanted to learn to craft without creating an alt character, you will have to wait a while. Once you hit level 50 and have spent the max 100 skill points in your main spec, you will continue to earn skill points which you could assign to a seconds skill spec. That way, you could swap out your skill specs and be able to craft things (There is a timed lockout on switch when not done inside of your home beacon).
More advanced food offers extra buffs that are well worth getting hold of, but getting a good explanation of this stuff in game is difficult. This post is worth a visit though.