Bottom post of the previous page:
I think point number 4 is a feature, not a flaw, especially considering there are 4 points currently nutrition can enter the station, chemistry, cloning, botany, and cargo, with a possible 5th in xenobio if I recall. It is probably the most redundant system in the station.Food riots shut down the station about as much as engineering all going MIA or atmos all going MIA locks down the station. Slightly less probably considering that it doesn't in of itself force the round to end if a few guys go MIA and no one notices, as you can always just get cargo on it ASAP. It takes something special to go down to cause food riots. This suggestion used to be how food worked and it really didn't end up affecting things too terribly when individuals were not present.
It also really wouldn't be more consistent with the game's mechanics to remove hunger. Hunger was originally in the game primarily to force you to get food or starve, it was not a roleplay mechanic at first.
The only way I can see a buff based chef and bartender working is if they provided short term, around five minutes, buffs that were very noticeable when gone. Even if food isn't made a big mechanic it would be nice for the people refining food to have some mechanical backing. Nothing as big as oldschool doc's delight, but something.
As for why people play service jobs, I suspect it is for a similar rote based enjoyment that people get out of chemistry coupled with some roleplaying. But removing mechanical consideration from food doesn't improve roleplay, and adding some doesn't reduce it.
Now as for raisins and food hoarding, that would easily be fixed by preventing large foods from fitting in storage containers, which they probably should already considering most food is larger than the box is.