Meaning
To earn a living or make some money — to get a chance to provide for yourself and get by. 'A food' stands for one's livelihood, one's daily bread, so to 'eat a food' is to work, hustle, or seize an opportunity to survive: 'mek di man eat a food' is let the man earn his living. The phrase turns the plain need to eat into the whole business of making a living in a hard economy, and it carries the everyday reality of the struggle to earn enough to put food on the table.
Examples
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Mi just a try eat a food like everybody else.
I'm just trying to earn a living like everyone else.
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Give di youth a chance fi eat a food.
Give the young man a chance to make an honest living.
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Every man haffi eat a food somehow.
Every man has to make a living somehow.
Origin
Uses 'a food' as a figure for one's livelihood or sustenance — to 'eat a food' is to earn the bread that keeps you, i.e. to make a living.
How it’s used
A very common way to speak of earning a living or taking a chance to make money — usually honest hustle.