Paid luches are nice. But if I get the choice between $10.000 yearly more or paid lunches, obviously i'd go for the cash. It's supposed to be a bonus (i.e. free), and not a way to cut corners and undermine your employees.

Maybe it does do the company some good in terms of retention, but counting on "I'll save $6k if I spend $4k on lunches per person on average by cutting pay for new hires" is not a good strategy. Same for ping pong tables, horseraces, pizza parties and whatever else.