I understand your viewpoint that hardship is important for gaining perspective and character... but not having food is not conducive to growth-- it is unjust and causes permanent damage. Food is life, and the very reason that every Sunday we come to church to receive the Body with our families and neighbors.

Consider this-- babies who don't get enough food suffer from birth defects and lost IQ points they can never recover. Kids who don't get enough food perform worse in school, and graduate less. Adults without enough food suffer from higher rates of chronic disease and spend more on health care ($160 billion was spent on hunger related medical cost in the US in 2014). Seniors who don't get enough food are less self sufficient and suffer more from mental illness. 

It's not dependency-- it's support to build a foundation to weather the hard times. We invite all of our brothers and sisters to eat at God's table, and we should want them to be well fed at all other times.