I'm for food and water. It can be hard to get, why the hell not. Hunger offline - NO
Being hungry/thirsty might lower stats, skills and max hit points (to not make it so easy - if you die from starvation/, you respawn still having lowered stats and 1-2 hours to get food/ or facing another respawn.
As to poor noobs - there can be something like 'free food stand' in one or two cities (no more than that),
or
(better)
some kind of "will work for food" quests, similar to shit shoveling or "caravan box running". Working for food... yeah...
cannibalism - I would be carefull on that...