I've put two plates of food on the table Why are they not eating?

Ignore whether food is displayed on the table...it is misleading. Click the table, if you have food already prepared it will show at upper right. Drag food to open gray slots. If it is time for them to eat, a fork icon will appear at right. If not time for them to eat you will see a "table full" message and will have to wait. Unfortunately there is no timer showing you how long to wait and the table(for me) seldom clears. You just have to check periodically whether it will let you drag food into the slots. Once it does the fork icon will appear and you click the fork icon, the food on the table will flash and the family will come running to eat and energy is restored.