Many large tech companies were famous for providing food and drink for their teams, especially in the early days.  One of the signs of maturing was the elimination or cutting back of these perks.  But these "perks" developed for a reason, when people are giving you their heart and soul, and lots and lots and lots of their time, a simple and very appreciated way to show you value the contribution is to make it easy to do something as mundane as "eat". 

In addition, particularly with engineers and developers, if they are working full tilt and in the middle of solving problems you need solved, as soon as they leave the building and have to "go get something to eat" at 6pm or 8pm or 10pm, they realize they might as well just go home.  You and they have lost that creative "zone", all for the cost of a single serve pizza or microwave burrito! 

Some thoughts on food and it's value to a startup

• Provide Food for your team, especially if they're working hard and long hours - and ALWAYS during crunch time
• The DoBox joke was "Food in - Code Out"
• Buy it at Costco - bulk packs of single servings (and don't forget their "fax and pull" program!)
  
• Software people munch while they code - so have lots of popcorn, pretzels and chips on hand
• Be nice and buy low cal/low fat options as well!
  
• Never let anyone burn popcorn in the microwave!  It takes DAYS to get rid of the smell! 
  
• If this does happen to you - see http://www.heloise.com/hints.html for tips to get rid of it - Heloise suggests boiling a cut-up citrus (lemon, lime or orange) in 4 cups of water, letting cool for 15 minutes before wiping out the microwave
• Have a holiday party, even if it's only a potluck
• Be careful serving alcohol at company parties, few people are at their best while drinking
• Have family parties where kids are invited too, it helps everyone understand where mom or dad is all day (and night)
• Spouses and significant others get to know each other and a mutual support environment develops.  We had one person whose spouse never got used to the "uncertainty" of a startup, and that person really struggled with their responsibilities.  Help your team help you!
  
• Don't put candy on your desk - or you may be the one who eats it all (trust me on this one!)
• Don't have the team clean out the fridge, this defeats the purpose!  Have one staff member (for us it was our company A.A.) who is responsible for keeping food stocked and keeping the fridge is reasonable shape.  Make sure that person is comfortable with that up front (our angel AA was!).
  
• And finally - Thank the Janitorial Staff (they clean up after the food!)