Things like “dry aged” steak.
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Aging food IS allowing it to spoil but in a controlled matter to allow for certain processes to occur that make the food more desirable. Whenever something spoils, there is usually a few steps involved and, out in a regular environment like on a countertop or in a forest, the process just happens quickly. When you age something to be consumed, you control as many variables as you can so the process is allowed to happen but at a slower rate. Also, you usually want to encourage certain microrganisms to flourish more than other ones and controller temp, moisture, acidity, etc allows the “good” microorganisms more chances to take control of the situation.
Your dry aged steak example is a good one because, when you do it right, you still have to cut away parts of the meat that are too bad for humans to consume because they are spoiled. BUT the inner parts become tender in a way you can’t get with conventional means. So aging is basically just controlled spoilage.
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