Quick Summary
• Food service workers are 2.5 times more likely to face food insecurity than workers in other sectors.
• 29% of U.S. jobs are tied to the food and agricultural industry, but many workers earn low wages.
• 11.3% of food service workers relied on SNAP benefits in 2018, ranking third among occupations.
• Median pay for fast food workers is $8.69 per hour; 87% lack health benefits.
• Workers in California saw wages raised to $20 an hour, but many had their hours cut.
• McDonald’s CEO earned $10.8 million in 2023—1,150 times the average worker’s pay.
• Inflation and shrinkflation make it harder for low-wage workers to afford food.
• Restaurants waste 4-10% of purchased food, much of it ending up in landfills rather than donated.
• Only 1.4% of food service workers are unionized, but organizing efforts are increasing.
• Corporate backlash against unionization includes legal challenges and reduced worker hours.
• Food insecurity disproportionately impacts Black and Hispanic households due to systemic inequality.
• Workers call for stronger labor protections, higher wages, and corporate accountability.
After long hours of preparing meals for millions of Americans, many food service workers go home unable to afford food for themselves. Despite being essential to the nation’s economy and daily life, food service workers remain among the most food-insecure laborers in the United States.
Food service is a cornerstone of the U.S. economy, with nearly 29% of jobs tied to the food and agricultural sectors as of 2021. Yet, these workers earn some of the lowest wages across all industries. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, 11.3% of workers in food preparation and service were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2018, making them the third most common occupation relying on food assistance.
“Food workers are about two and a half times more likely to be food insecure than workers in other sectors of the economy, which is so ironic. [T]hey’re the ones creating the food that we all eat,” said Jose Oliva, campaigns director for HEAL Food Alliance, a coalition working to transform food systems.
The systemic issues plaguing the food service industry are rooted in low pay, poor working conditions, and inconsistent scheduling. The median pay for fast food jobs is just $8.69 per hour. Additionally, 87% of fast food workers lack employer-provided health benefits.
Arnice Sykes, a 55-year-old food service worker in Atlanta, Georgia, shared her struggle to make ends meet. “They’re not paying you enough to decide if you’re going to grocery shop, or pay your rent, or just pay partial rent,” she said. Sykes recalled how her job at Church’s Chicken often required skipping legally entitled breaks during busy shifts, while staff meals were meager and limited to small servings consumed on-site.
Fast food employees have long advocated for higher wages, notably pushing for a $15 hourly minimum. While states like California recently raised the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour, the impact has been undercut by reduced hours and cost-cutting measures. “Ultimately, I still struggle,” said Laura Pozos, a 62-year-old McDonald’s worker in Los Angeles. “It’s hard to afford meals with just the 17 hours I have to work per week now.”
The disparity between workers’ earnings and corporate profits is staggering. McDonald’s CEO earned $10.8 million in 2023—1,150 times the average worker’s pay. Research also shows that paying workers more benefits local economies, as higher wages are often reinvested into the community.
The cost of food remains a significant barrier for low-wage workers. Feeding America estimates that the average cost of a meal in the U.S. is $3.99. A single person needs $83.79 for a week of meals, while a family of four requires $335.16. For workers earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, even a 40-hour work week amounts to $290 before taxes, leaving them unable to cover basic living expenses.
“Hunger happens because families and households are experiencing low wage employment, difficulties accessing affordable housing, [and] any number of fiscal impacts that can lead to a household needing to make really difficult trade-offs,” explained Linda Nageotte, president of Feeding America.
Inflation has compounded the problem. While official reports claim inflation has leveled, goods and services still cost 20% more on average than they did in early 2020. Practices like shrinkflation—reducing product sizes without lowering prices—further squeeze household budgets. SNAP benefits, which were temporarily increased during the pandemic, have since been cut, leaving food banks overwhelmed with rising demand.
As food service workers struggle with hunger, restaurants generate significant food waste. Approximately 15% of all food waste in landfills comes from restaurants, and 4–10% of the food purchased by these establishments is discarded. Instead of donating this surplus to workers or local communities, many companies prefer to throw it away, citing health code regulations or concerns over brand reputation.
“You’re supposed to waste it,” said Sykes, referring to standard food waste practices in restaurants.
Oliva highlighted the systemic issues at play. “When people say the food system is broken, I tend to correct them and say, ‘No, it’s perfectly functioning for the people who designed it.’ Those folks are doing fine with the existing food system, and those folks are the CEOs and the stockholders of these major food corporations that are making a lot of money.”
Unionization offers a potential solution to the challenges facing food service workers, but organizing in this sector remains difficult. In 2023, only 1.4% of food service workers were unionized. However, there has been a rise in union efforts at major chains like Starbucks and Chipotle.
“Right now, there’s a sort of renaissance in workers wanting unions or understanding that unions are the only pathway to the middle class for them,” said Oliva.
Sykes, a member of the Union of Southern Service Workers, recounted how union support helped her address exploitative workplace conditions, such as being forced to work in extreme heat without proper ventilation.
Despite these gains, corporate resistance to unionization has been fierce. A 2023 Supreme Court ruling in favor of Starbucks set a precedent that could weaken the National Labor Relations Board’s power to investigate workers’ rights violations.
“We’ve worked for these corporations for years, given a lot to these corporations, and so it’s only fair for them to follow the rules by paying us what they should,” said Pozos.
The food service industry’s reliance on low-wage labor creates a stark contradiction: millions of workers are indispensable to feeding the nation but cannot feed themselves. Addressing these systemic inequalities requires stronger wage laws, increased union protections, and corporate accountability. As Sykes reminds us, “You’ve got people working 20 or 30 years at these restaurants. As adults, we need $25 or more an hour.”
COMMENTS