hello, Kepler
I like to experiment about different ways to support a settlement, just as you´ve done. And yes, trading meat for other food is a thing that works. I´ve played such games, too. It´s harder than the "standard (and quite boring) trade economy"; firewood but makes more fun. It´s harder because of the space pastures need. You need many traders to carry the meat to the ports from the distant pastures and many market places and vendors to carry all the other food to the distant parts of your settlement.
What about coats? If I remember it right, there was a surplus of wool in such games and I used to export wool coats. And unless I have a surplus of firewood, I didn´t bother to import coal; too much is "stolen" by the people to heat their houses, instead, I imported steel tools and produced some iron tools when there weren´t enough steel tools.
OK, I´m probably known as the most herbalist hostile person on WOB, but I wouldn´t import any herbs. (I wouldn´t employ any herbalists with "domestic" herbs either). I would rather put much effort into a good distribution of food and people will be healthy. If I don´t succeed and some people only eat meat and have poor health; herbs will not help. People will walk to the herbalist (and not always the closest), every second month and not work. And if they don´t have all food categories they will soon lose that ½ heart they´ve just gained and off to the herbalist again; a never-ending loop.
Forests or not; it´s a matter of taste. You can do without if you import the logs but as you write, they are also good to produce other food categories. It may be a good thing to locate forests in the most remote corners of the map, where it takes time to carry meat away and other foods in. If you don´t have enough logs you may make a small compromise and import logs for firewood, just to support the settlement with logs. In a vanilla game, nothing is profitable as firewood to trade.
Anyway, it would be nice to hear more about your decisions. Maybe with some screenshots.