So what's the deal with it?

Im not talking about ingredients for alchemy, im talking about fish, vegetables, and bread. Stuff like that.

Does anyone actually bother picking it up? I mean i NEVER look in food sacks, because.. Well i know there's only cabbage, carrots, and fruits in there.

Useless feature in my opinion.

Useless in that you aren't required to eat it to survive, but nice for role-playing. My characters all try to eat a decent meal twice a day and also keep their followers stocked with enough food/drink to make up two good meals.

Some food can be sold to vendors, not for much but if it's something you found and didn't pay for what you get is all profit. You can also get health/stamina bumps from some items, even the raw uncooked ones. I've had followers eat up their foodstores to help recover during a long and difficult combat situation.

It helps by increasing your health when injured. Albeit very little , a lot of bread can add up

Well all fish can be used for ingredients in alchemy.

It's part of the immersion that they create. Usefulness though is not up to the usefulness of food in say Fallout New Vegas, especially in hardcoe mode. Though for RPers and to those that like to create a challenge, it's definitely worth it to them. Take my Cryptwalker character I made. This guy only eats fresh raw meat for sustenance. I don't have to do it, but for RPing I do because it's enjoyable and adds depth to the character I've created.

Some cooked food (like stews and Elsweyr fondue) is in fact quite useful since it boosts regeneration.

But most food are mostly for RP purposes.

I have my characters eat at least twice a day and throw back a bad ole Black-Briar Reserve whenever they've accomplished something exceptionally difficult, so I definitely bother picking it up. My Khajiit in particular has a sweet tooth, which means every sweetroll and honey nut treat in the vicinity is in mortal danger. I have a mod that raises the amount of health food items grant you, too, so that gives their usefulness a boost and makes them a viable substitute for potions. In short, I'm rather happy with the feature.

I don't need an alarm clock and a numerical penalty to tell me when to eat. I'm smart enough to figure that out on my own. The sound of eating is a more convincing illusion than New Vegas' pathetic system.