It is still adom at heart, which is good and bad. You get used to the equipment screen coming up instead of the inventory.
From memory, press 'i', then press the key for footwear, then select the sandals. Assuming they fit your character size.
The food counter should be toned down in these early releases for exploration purposes. He builds a random map that you cant explore, at least with out spending your time collecting berries and fish, boring!