Yes, I'm hungry

I just finished off my $3 worth of food, so I've completed my day of the Food Stamp Challenge.
I skipped breakfast, had 3/4 of a $3 box of cereal, one bowl of which with milk, and a few leftovers from my friends' dinner.
The most telling part of this experience was sitting among friends at dinner and really wanting to have some of the very appetizing food that they were eating. Instead, I had to eat only the dry cereal I had brought with me. This was the moment when I felt most hungry, when I could compare my food to the food of those around me. This moment obviously gives some insight into the experience of those poorer than I, who must surely undergo similar experiences, sitting around the lunch table at work very jealous of their colleagues' food. The feeling of relative lack is definitely a harsh one, especially so with food, which is something that is so close and visible to others when eaten in communal settings.
My "lunch" experience, I believe, shed light on another aspect of not having much money for food; I did not meet friends at the Slifka Bagel Brunch, which would have cost me $10 alone. This meant foregoing the social nature of food, which is often dependent on a certain amount of money. Meeting others at a restaurant is unaffordable for many, and meeting others for a meal at home just tends to not work out - restaurants and similar places are neutral zones, communal meeting spots, in the way that homes are not.
Yet these experiences shed light on the peculiarities of modern food culture in ways that are not all bad. It may not be a good thing that we primarily meet other people in neutral spots and not at each others' homes. It seems to represent a certain non-intimacy as the primary mode of interaction in today's society. Similarly, I am happy for being "forced" not to overeat or pig out on junk food and the like. I do think that we eat too much in today's society. And though it would be better to choose to eat less, the economic situation encourages us very strongly to eat too much - food (or at least certain foods) is artificially cheap due to overproduction.
In one sense, dealing with a finite set of food led me to appreciate what I was eating more and to pay more attention to food. Yet on the other hand, the feeling of chomping down leftovers felt a bit undignified. I resent the societal atmosphere that leads to this feeling, but it is real, and I must be able to recognize it.
In conclusion, though I may be critical of today's food culture and the way that it artificially labels some as poorer than they actually may be, the relative nature of life means that it still hurts, and I cannot ignore this victimization, artificial though it may be.