Brooke Rollins’ ‘$3 meal’ comment was ridiculed, but she’s right. Here’s the math

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is facing criticism after she claimed Americans can meet their nutritional needs on just $9 a day. In an interview this week, Rollins asserted that one healthy meal “can cost around $3.”

It comes just a week after the Trump administration unveiled its updated dietary guidelines for Americans, which promotes healthy eating habits and aims to reduce the need for medications and disease diagnoses.

The cost of eating healthy

In an interview on NewsNation Wednesday, Rollins was asked about how high grocery prices could impact Americans’ ability to eat healthy and affordably.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December showed grocery prices rose 0.7%, the biggest month-over-month increase since October 2022. Compared to December 2024, grocery prices were up 2.4%.

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Pressure on prices

The USDA estimates food costs about $1,000-$1,600 per month for a family of 4.

“We’ve run over 1,000 simulations. It can cost around $3 a meal for a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, corn tortilla, and one other thing,” Rollins said during the interview.

For a family of four, $3 per meal for three meals a day adds up to about $1,080 every month.

We looked at prices for chicken breast, broccoli and corn tortillas at three popular grocery stores in the Omaha, Nebraska, area, where Straight Arrow News’ headquarters are located. 

The cost of living in Omaha is about 10% lower than the national average.

On average, chicken breast costs $2.58 per pound, broccoli $1.96 per pound and a 30-count package of six-inch corn tortillas costs $2.37. That breaks down to $0.16 per ounce for chicken, $0.12/oz. for broccoli, and $0.08 for one tortilla.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines one portion of chicken as 3 ounces when cooked. For this estimate, we’re defining “a piece of broccoli” as 1 ounce, since an entire head is usually around a pound. So, based on that math, Rollins is right. The meal she described would average out to about $0.68 per person before that “one other thing” is added.

Is that even enough food?

The question now is whether the meal Rollins described is healthy.

While the government’s new guidelines don’t give specific advice for how many calories a person should eat, the general guideline is 2,000 calories per day.

A three-ounce portion of chicken breast is between 120 and 160 calories, one broccoli floret is between 1 and 3 calories and one 6-inch corn tortilla is 50-60 calories. That means this meal would range anywhere between 171 and 223 calories (again, not including the undescribed “one other thing.”)

Assuming a person ate three meals a day with no snacks, that means the fourth item would need to be 495 to 444 calories to meet the 2,000/day requirement.

The USDA has a tool to help people determine how many calories they should eat in a day. For example: a woman who is 34 years old, 5’4”, 144 lbs. and inactive should eat 2,041 calories per day.

Rollins under fire

Even if Rollins is technically correct, her example has been the target of ridicule across the internet, with many people drawing comparisons to President Jimmy Carter’s controversial fireside chat in 1977.

“Jimmy Carter got hounded out of office for telling people to turn down the thermostat and wear a sweater during the oil crisis. Same vibe here,” one person wrote in a post on X.

Another X user shared a video of the interview calling it “the equivalent of Jimmy Carter telling Americans to wear sweaters in order to bring down energy costs.”

Other people pointed out how out of touch they believe Rollins’ comments were. One person shared an image showing the meal Rollins described as a visual representation of how little food that is.

A different user posted a gif of the popular television show “Arrested Development,” in which one of the characters, who is written to be out of touch with reality, doesn’t know the price of a banana.

The post Brooke Rollins’ ‘$3 meal’ comment was ridiculed, but she’s right. Here’s the math appeared first on Straight Arrow News.

Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief

Ella Greene

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