For over 20 years, Fran Marion, mother of two, has worked in the fast-food industry, clocking in at some of the biggest restaurant chains in the country—McDonald’s, Popeye’s, and now Taco Bell.
Yet despite her decades of service, she still struggles to afford rent, heating, and even food for her own children.
Her story is one of countless others featured in Food, Inc. 2, a documentary that exposes the hidden realities of the American food system, including the exploitation of workers who keep it running.
“I have two children. My kids are my world. But it’s been hard,” Marion says in the film. “There have been times that I can’t afford a heating bill. There have been times where I can’t afford to pay my rent. There’s been times where I couldn’t afford to put food on the table.”
Her experience challenges the common belief that fast-food jobs are just stepping stones for teenagers or entry-level workers. The reality, she says, is starkly different:
“Most people would say that these jobs are for people that are just starting out, but the average fast-food worker is a 30-year-old woman. Not a kid. This is someone’s mother, someone’s sister trying to make it to feed their family.”
Despite working for billion-dollar corporations, Marion says her wages have failed to keep pace with the rising cost of living.
“How could I go to work for these billion-dollar companies and feed all these people, all to come home to hear my son’s stomach growl?” she asks.
Beyond low wages, she also faces a lack of basic benefits:
“I do not get sick leave. I do not get health care. As an adult, I’ve never been able to afford to see a doctor. I’m tired. And nobody knows how tired I am except for those people that go through it, just like me.”
Food, Inc. 2 sheds light on these systemic issues and raises a critical question: How can the people who fuel America’s fast-food industry still struggle to afford food themselves?
