Overview
- In a NewsNation interview, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the USDA ran over 1,000 simulations and that a healthy meal can cost around $3, citing a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla, and “one other thing.”
- Official CPI data show grocery prices rose 0.7% in December, with beef up 1% for the month and about 16% year over year, contrasting with Rollins’s separate claim that grocery costs are coming down.
- Reports note Rollins did not specify the “one other thing,” and the example drew widespread ridicule on X and Bluesky as well as criticism from Democrats including Rep. Ted Lieu and Chasten Buttigieg.
- The USDA has not released its underlying modeling, while a department spokesperson told the Houston Chronicle their analysis identified “hundreds of thousands” of $3 meal options using items such as poultry, cottage cheese, frozen broccoli, potatoes, frozen blueberries, whole grain bread, and butter.
- The remarks follow the administration’s new dietary guidelines that emphasize more protein, dairy, and healthy fats and de-emphasize whole grains, prompting questions about affordability for households.