pixel_player85987859 at first I gobbled everything fresh out of the kitchen or wherever it came from. Then little by little I put Diggy on a diet. I would only take one of each item for a buffet energy supplement. That allowed cooked food to begin to accumulate. Whenever I wanted to finish a mine, or have extra energy for an event, it was there.
Then one time there was a double production, and I cooked Bowls of Rice constantly ... and reached 1 million worth of energy just in rice. I still have that million energy in cooked rice, too. Now I also have 4 million Sea Soup, 1 million Lobster, 1 million olive bread, and in total about 9 or 10 million food stored.
The other day I was pissed off at the game for giving crappy equipment so I started consuming all the tiddly food - anything less than 20,000 worth I just used it to finish Alice in Wonderland. I pared back my supply to just be the handful of large value items. Having this much energy is for "the future," whatever challenges might come along.
There is security in having a stockpile, but I realize that it's nice to use it when you are in need of a good round of gameplay and the tile costs are high. I'm pretty used to Greece now that i'm more than halfway through it, but sometimes a mine has a lot of big tiles and there is no level up in sight.
I constantly make food - Greek food is among the best for ease of getting materials and speed to make good quality values.
The security + the freedom to give yourself a treat when you really want are good reasons to stockpile some food. My recommendation is to build your cushion steadily, but don't deny yourself the joy of using some now and then.