Now, I understand that some people may find eating with their hands unhygienic or not civilized.

There are entire cultures that forgo eating utensils, so I doubt this is actually an unpopular opinion when taking the entire human population into account.
I do want to point out that eating with your hands actually is unhygienic when compared to the use of most eating utensils, however.
Whether the practice is "civilized" or not is entirely dependent on where you live.