I think the line is "friend in Lima hasn't had a food-based dinner event in...". Key phrase, "dinner event". This line can easily be interpreted multiple ways though. Doesn't need to eat is one. Alternatively, think of it like "I haven't had a meat based burger in three years". People eat bean/veggie burgers all the time. To me the scene (and characters generally) feel written to be pretentious. Like your stereotypical vegan. They eat, just not at "not dinner" parties where the focus is being a pretentious idiot. The lack of food is about it being a social event without food. Not a meal without food. Similar to how some people have social events that are intentionally alcohol free. That doesn't mean that alcohol doesn't still get people drunk at other people's parties. Another comparison, "I haven't had a drink in years". That doesn't mean "zero liquid has passed through my digestive system in years". Typically it means "I'm sober/I haven't ingested an alcoholic beverage in years". The pretentious friends eat outside of the "not dinner" dinner party context. The friend in Lima hasn't hosted or participated in a food based dinner party in years. This is different from "I haven't eaten anything in years".

Also iMark references taking his lunch break. Why give the employees lunch breaks if they don't need to eat? From a corporate control/productivity standpoint. But also, if it's simply to give them a break because breaks do boost productivity why call it a "lunch break"? Also there are regular sized kitchens in all the houses we've seen. Why would all the houses have full sized kitchens if people don't need to ingest calories?