Then pack some food? Or buy food? I don't know... I've always had time to get even a small, but decent bite, in a pinch. Presumably for shorthaul the flight time is 1-2 hours, so you can just hold off until you land. If there's a will to avoid airplane food, there's a way.
I've even had the FAs tell me after we land and I'm waiting to disembark that I made a good decision not to eat the food. Some of them say they wouldn't touch it.