Well, if the food can be provided for cheap enough, it may make more sense to give it away free than to handle all the accounting hassle.
> This recent stuff that tech workers are entitled to a free meal at work or to go spend an hour+ to go to a restaurant for lunch every day is a very new thing.
Its not. It was a practice very widespread in most of the world's social democracies, especially in government organizations, in order to lift up the life standards of the members. Its still used in a lot of countries. The US has 'rediscovered' it through the tech companies. Just like its 'rediscovering' company-provided housing and all the other tangible benefits that the rest of the world still practices instead of leaving their employees to the mercy of the market.
