Hello Hawk,
I think you are getting a bit confused about wing pitching moments. It is true that a camered aerofoil produces a nose-down pitching moment when at its zero-lift angle of attack. But at normal (more positive lift-producing) angles of attack it will produce a nose up pitching moment. The greater the angle of attack (up to the stall), the greater will be the nose-up pitching moment.
But when considering the trim of an aircraft we must consider not just the wings, but the whole aircraft. The most inportant factor here is the lift-weight couple. With a forward C of G this will generate a nose-down piching moment. This must be balanced by trimming the tailplane to give a nose-up (or tail down if you prefer) moment.
The magnitude of the nose-down moment caused by the lift-weight couple depends upon the mass of the aircraft and the distance from the C of G to the C of P. So moving the C of G aft towards the C of P will reduce the nose-down pitching moment.
This will reduce the amount of tailplane down-force that is needed to trim the aircraft. This reduction in tailplane down-force reduces the total amount of lift required from the wings (which must equal weight plus tailplane down-force). This in turn reduces the total drag and hence reduces the thrust and fuel consumption required.
A canard on the other hand trims the aircarft by producing an upward force. This reduces the amount of wing lift required, which in turn reduces drag and fuel consumption rate. But canards (as with everything else in this world) introduce their own little problems.
The best solution is to keep the C of G as close to its rear limit as possible. More and more aircraft types are now being designed with things like fuel tanks in the fin to enable this to be done automatically in flight.