I know some do and some don't carry a stove when bikepacking, but I am one of those who likes to cook up a coffee and big bowl of porridge when I crawl out of my tent. Most of the stories I have read about the TD seem to mention the amount of junk food eaten from service stations. I hate junk food and would like to hear of any tasty meals you can easily knock up whilst on the TD using readily available ingredients.
I think the difference in the stories can mostly be attributed to the differences between people racing the route or people touring the route. If you're touring, a stove, the extra weight of food, and the time to prepare it won't be as big of an issue. There are also places on or near the route that you can buy good meals from too. Bigger towns will have grocery stores that you can find all of the normal stuff at.
