At least Qantas still offers food to its customers, unlike the trash-haulers being foisted on the Australian market.
If you're referring to having to pay cash for food on the likes of
VB et al I've often wondered why they don't just offer to sell punters credit (say $10 towards a sambo and drinks) at the time of purchasing the ticket which the pax may then use on the flight rather than realising that there's no cash in their wallet and no ATM. I'm sure that the logistics wouldn't be too hard to organise.