I'm not an expert at all in this matter, but as far as I know it only depends on your contract, I mean... the way you negotiate the conditions you ask for to sign for the firm.
Obviously, if all the other employees at that firm don't receive an extra payment to cover the cost of the daily meal (for example), you can bet if you ask for it, there is a 99.999999999% of chance that they (the firm) will send you "a la csm y más allá", except maybe if you're filling a key position in the firm that they desperately need.
In other cases, the situation about the meals and lodging is dictated by the nature of the job. The most classic example here in Chile is people that works in the mines here in the North.
Since a huge % of the workers come from the Central/South of the country, your employer will pay for the lodging and meals since you arrive to the city, until you get to the mine itself (once you're in the mine, during the shift, the mine pays for all, which means you will be provided with a room and access to three meals a day (tenedor libre, así que puedes comer como chancho si quieres)).
A good amount of those firms provide you also with the bus/plane tickets to travel from your home and viceversa. Some of them, however, don't provide them and it's pretty common to negotiate it. Most of the time they'll agree to pay for them.
So, why don't they offer them from the start? well... to reduce operational costs only. If you're "vivo", you'll ask for it, if you're "huevón" (lol) you'll say nothing and well... you'll be saving your employer a good amount of bucks. <-- shitty firms use to do that.