Well we agree on that. In the US school food is heavily subsidized and provided for free if poor. And a kid using some ambition and hard work towards a charitable end is exactly the definition of society not letting someone starve. Although no one starved in the story, nor was there any real danger of that even if this commendable kid hadn't decided to help. So in summary, you get upset when you read a story that perfectly illustrates the type of society you desire to live in? Or does individual motivation and charity bother you instead of it being handled by a cold, inefficient bureaucracy thereby absolving and demotivating individuals to ever elect to act charitably or selflessly? Or possibly it bothers you that there are parents that are so selfish they would shirk their basic responsibilities to provide for their children's basic care? If the latter, then yes, I would agree is disheartening.