It depends.
If you are an independent contractor and you report your income and expenses on a Schedule C, you will only be able to claim meals (of which only 50% of the cost of business meals is allowed by the IRS), if they are business related.
So if you buy lunch for your assistants, you will be able to claim this as a business lunch if you discuss business during lunch. If you just pay for their meals and they go off and eat on their own, then these would be considered a personal expense and would not be deductible as a business meal.
