Free Food

Sharing my take on a delicious but controversial perk in tech companies

At Google I was often asked what I thought about the free food perk. The short answer is I absolutely loved this perk and found it valuable! When I was considering my next opportunity, I specifically factored it into my job search. Places that offered this perk were high on my list of potential employers.

Here is why I believe in it so strongly and why I think every company should consider offering it as a perk!

🤝 Facilitating Connections

When the meal - breakfast or lunch - was served right there, everyone gathered around it. Fostering connections within the team was easier this way.

• New team member joined? Grab lunch and a table/room and connect!

• Like meeting a complete stranger from another team? Ask to sit with someone at breakfast!

• Someone has an interesting tech topic to share? Grab lunch and a room and discuss!

• Want to connect with someone from your old team? Invite them to lunch without having to pay for it!

People often ask me how I curated such a large and effective network at Google and how I stayed in touch with everyone. The free food was the key ingredient for my internal networking!

At Stripe, this perk helped me me build my network quickly in my first few weeks. Breakfast with my orientation cohort-mates helped bootstrap my network. Lunch with my teammates helped us connect better. I made more local connections by finding breakfast and lunch buddies in Seattle. With many teams, including mine, distributed across multiple locations, the free food perk helps foster local connections with others who shared my office location.

🎭 Creating Shared Identity

Over my years at Google I enjoyed meals in my home offices of Seattle/Kirkland but also dosas in Bangalore, pierogi in Warsaw, sushi in Tokyo, pastries in Paris and more! My shared coffee cups with co-workers stretched from New York to LA and beyond.

Whatever other cultural boundaries separated us, discussing the office food was a guaranteed conversation starter! It was a great foundation to build our shared identity even if we had just met.

🏆 Building Pride

It was such a moment of pride when I first brought my family to the office for a meal. Being able to bring my family to work AND being able to share the food with them helped me bridge my personal and professional worlds. It added to my work pride when I could show my family WHY I was excited to work here.

🎨 Increasing Representation

Many first time moms often ask me how I kept up my career trajectory during the “rush hour” years from Saanvi’s birth till she was school-aged. I have to mention and acknowledge the big role played that free food at work played for me during this time!

I was fortunate to be a Googler during my pregnancy. Especially during my third trimester I was always hungry! Easy access to nutritious food at all times allowed me to keep my focus on work instead of being distracted with having to plan/pack/carry many tiffins.

I could also be more efficient in the office when lunch was served right there. No need to run outside looking for a reasonable place to buy it. I had access to quick, healthy meals without taking away too much time from my work schedule. At home I didn’t have to spend extra time cooking breakfasts/lunches. The time savings compounded over the days and years and overall helped me spend more time with my family!

I also loved the thought behind the meal offerings in all my work places. There was something for almost everyone whether you were a meat eater, vegetarian or vegan. There were themed days to celebrate different types of cuisines so you can find a familiar dish from home at some point in the food offered. These little touches made everyone feel welcome regardless of their cultural background.

🥗 Developing Healthier Eating Habits

I follow the Kenzai fitness program which emphasizes simple meals as the best way to meet most of your health goals from weight loss to general fitness. Kenzai’s principle for every meal is to have a lot of vegetables, a medium amount of protein and a small amount of carbs.

I found it extremely easy to follow this principle during all meals at Google and at Stripe! Healthy eating kept me in good shape even during stressful times in my jobs. It also sparked a virtuous cycle where healthy eating encouraged exercising which encouraged more fitness.

🌟 Attracting Talent

Inviting potential hires to lunch or coffee was one of my favorite tactics to sell them on joining the company! There is nothing like seeing so many happy employees enjoying meals together to evoke the feeling of wanting to join this group 🙂

While I went to Stripe for lunch after signing my offer, I have to say the visit evoked the same feeling for me as well. I couldn’t wait to get my employee badge and join this gang!

💭 One Last Thought

I have to say that I believe "free" is the wrong qualifier for this perk! Happy employees are productive employees. The food is an investment from the company's perspective. I am proud and glad I could be part of companies that recognized this investment and championed it!