Man, I can't remember the last time I had a meal on a domestic flight. I just flew from BOS-SFO and was thrilled that JetBlue gave us unlimited snacks on the 6 hour flight. But thinking back, I realize now that cross-country flights used to always have a meal. And reasonably-sized seats.
Norwegian is the only carrier I know with optional meal service.
If you're the carrier - it's bad business to have hangry passengers.
That said, we all expect more of international flights, and this is a really disappointing data point to learn of.
Have you actually checked the price differential between coach and first class? It's like two orders of magnitude. Might be better off stopping at Mickey Dees at JFK before boarding.