A piece of chicken. A piece of broccoli. A corn tortilla. “One other thing.” Does that sound like a meal that’ll fill you up?
According to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, that’s a substantial meal. In a NewsNation interview on Wednesday, Rollins detailed how people might be able to achieve a $3 meal. The remark came after a reporter asked Rollins how the average American could afford a meal under the White House’s updated food pyramid, which encourages eating red meat, full-fat dairy, and saturated fats. The price of red meat is not, as we all know, particularly cheap at the moment.
“We’ve run over 1,000 simulations,” Rollins said. “It can cost around $3 a meal for a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, you know, a corn tortilla and one other thing. So there is a way to do this that actually will save the average American consumer money.”
Is there?
‘Rations During Wartime Are Better Than This’
Responses to the $3 dinner have been, shall we say, brutal. Across social media, everyday Americans and politicians alike have mocked Rollins for suggesting that this $3 meal is possible (or even remotely filling, for that matter).
“Trump gets a gold-plated new ballroom,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) posted on X. “You get a piece of chicken, broccoli, and one corn tortilla.”
“Ah yes the classic poverty taco,” wrote u/gfh110 on Reddit. “Have these people ever actually eaten food?”
“Rations during wartime are better than this,” wrote u/srona22 in another thread.
Another commenter shared their normal daily meal, which features the meat-heavy guidance of the new food pyramid: “Breakfast: protein drink. Lunch: 2 chicken thighs or 1 double cheeseburger. Supper: some type of red meat and a vegetable or salad. 3 dollars isn’t covering any of these. Daily cost for all is around 25 to 30 a day.”
Is a $3 Dinner Actually Possible?
In the interview, Rollins shared that “The cost of groceries are actually coming down,” adding “There was a little blip at the end of the year because it’s the holiday, and a lot of people are spending a lot more money at the grocery store. But the actual overall numbers are coming down, from eggs, to chicken, to pork, to milk, to broccoli.”
But according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices rose by 0.7% in December, the largest jump since October 2022. And incorporating red meat into your meal with those prices? It’s hard to see how the average American could make it work.
Still, the Wall Street Journal was able to do it – but it wasn’t easy. Two WSJ reporters visited grocery stores in Boston and New Orleans to look for a meal that resembled the one Rollins described. After parceling out a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts into four portions, along with a cup of store-brand frozen broccoli, a flour tortilla, and an ounce of Vermont cheddar cheese, the total came to $2.96.
The trouble? This portion size doesn’t meet government guidelines for how much protein someone should have over the course of a day. According to the USDA, anyone eating 2,000 calories per day should consume three to four portions of seafood or cooked meat each day.
One Redditor summed it up: “They ran ‘1,000 simulations’ to come up with this meal. Simulations, because no one involved has ever had to plan a $3 meal and they never will.”
More From Cheapism
- Food Pantry Hauls Aren’t One-Size-Fits-All — and These Photos Prove It — Here’s a quick snapshot into what food pantry users come away with after a visit.
- Beef, Coffee Prices Soar in Latest Inflation Data, But Some Groceries Are Getting Cheaper — Here are all the grocery prices that increased or decreased the most during the month of September, according to the latest inflation data from the BLS.
- How U.S. Food Prices Compare to What the Rest of the World Pays – Want to put food inflation into some perspective? Check out this report about globally rising product costs.
