We could eat for free at the domiciliary at the VA when I was in medical school. Right next to the hospital so it was convenient.
In my first job, all food was free. All the time. If you wanted to (and people did), you could get 30 bottles of starbucks frappucino. You could get an entire meal, take one bite, throw it all away, and get another one. This was not routine, but did happen occasionally. This was a community hospital that, you know, earns money.
At the university hospital now, we get $100 a month for all months. Granted, this is more than some, but still won't cover a month of q4 inpatient medicine unless you only eat lunch. Remember, it is less than $4 a day for the month when you only get 4 days off. Because they charge inane prices for everything, a meal with ice water (not even bottled), one side, and one entree costs more than this.
The biggest beef is that it doesn't roll over. So if you have a month of outpatient stuff, you're never in the hospital, so the money goes away. Unless, that is, you go on the last day of the month and clean them out of diet mountain dew. Or so I have heard.
There are no places for us to get free stuff at any point in the hospital. Patient nourishment is locked up, no sodas, ice cream, sandwiches, anything. So you either bring it in or you buy it.