So, food. Do I really need to faff about with it. I know I have to sleep, but what happens if I don't eat? Actually, sleeping as well, does anything happen if you don't sleep?

Cheers and night all!! (or should I say morning! )

Sleeping and eating are choices you make; if you "roleplay" as we say here, you'll eat and sleep regularly. Otherwise, you can run all the time and never sleep or eat.

Really? Because if that is the case I might get rid of all my food to save on weight allowance...waddya reckon?

I rekon that it's up to you.

Sleeping gives you a "bonus" for raising your skills. You've probably seen the message at the top left of your screen. Purchasing a room at an inn or sleeping in a bed at a home you own will give you a 10% bonus. Finding a random bedroll or whatever will only grant you 5%.

That's the difference between "Rested" and "Well Rested."

But, like was said above, sleeping and eating aren't required.

That's entirely your choice. There are mods available for the PC version of the game that will add requirements for your character to eat, drink and sleep regularly. or else your character will suffer penalties to skills/stats, or even die. Or you can just make your character eat, drink and sleep regularly for roleplaying purposes. I do this with my characters myself.

The food items will give you minor boosts to your health and/or stamina. They can also be used to craft recipes at cooking pots, some of which can give quite powerful boosts to your health, stamina and magicka maximums or regeneration rates in battle.