Brooke Rollins Says You Can Beat Inflation With A $3 Depression Dinner

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Americans struggling with grocery prices that they can eat healthy for just $3 a meal.

Rollins appeared Wednesday to promote the Trump administration’s new dietary guidelines. When asked about food costs, she offered a budget solution. (RELATED: USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins Says SNAP Will Be Drastically Reformed After Thousands Of Illegals Removed)

“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 an interview on NewsNation. “So there is a way to do this that actually will save the average American consumer money.”

Her comments came days after federal data showed food prices continue to climb. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported January 13 that grocery costs jumped 0.7% in December alone. Food prices overall rose 3.1% compared to the previous year, according to CBS News. Ground beef prices surged 15.5% year-over-year while coffee spiked nearly 20%.

Brooke Rollins: “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. So there is a way to do this that actually will save the average American consumer money.” pic.twitter.com/hL7TTz7PRk

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 14, 2026

Rollins and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced new federal dietary guidelines on January 7. The administration called it the biggest overhaul of nutrition policy in decades, ABC News reported. The new recommendations flip the traditional food pyramid and push Americans toward protein, healthy fats and whole foods while cutting back on processed items.

“This is a whole flipping of the narrative,” Rollins told ABC News. “It’s a flipping of what we’ve known over the last couple of decades.”

Democrats mocked the $3 meal suggestion on social media. Chasten Buttigieg, husband of former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, fired back on X.

“Private jets and tax breaks for them and their rich friends, and one piece of broccoli AND a tortilla for you!” Buttigieg wrote.

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California connected the sparse meal to Trump’s trade policies, claiming December saw the largest monthly spike in grocery prices in three years.

Rollins did not specify what the “one other thing” in her $3 meal would be.