Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is facing a wave of online ridicule after pitching what critics have dubbed a “depression meal” in defense of the Trump administration’s newly overhauled federal dietary guidelines.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently unveiled updated nutrition guidance that effectively flips the traditional food pyramid, urging Americans to eat more protein, dairy, and healthy fats while cutting back on whole grains. Rollins and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. framed the shift with a simple message: “Eat real food.”
But it was Rollins’ attempt to demonstrate affordability that sent social media into a frenzy.
Appearing on NewsNation on Wednesday, Rollins said her department had run more than 1,000 simulations to show Americans could eat in line with the new rules for about $3 per meal.
“It can cost around $3 a meal for a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, corn tortilla and one other thing,” Rollins said. “There is a way to do this that actually will save the average American consumer money.”
The clip spread quickly—and so did the mockery.
“Private jets and tax breaks for them and their rich friends, and one piece of broccoli AND a tortilla for you!” wrote Chasten Buttigieg, the husband of former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Marlow Stern, a journalism professor at Columbia, was blunter: “‘You should eat prison meals’ prob not the best message.”
Democratic strategist Jennifer Holdsworth zeroed in on the details: “One whole tortilla?!”
Podcast host and Democratic congressional candidate Fred Wellman wrote, “They hate so much of America. They just hate them.”
Others mocked the technocratic framing. “Are they doing Monte Carlo simulations to create the most affordable r/depressionmeal?” posted opposition researcher Tyson Brody.
The backlash comes as Americans continue to feel squeezed at the grocery store, even as headline inflation cools. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation held steady at 2.7 percent in December—but food prices remain stubbornly high. Uncooked ground beef rose 15.5 percent year-over-year, while frozen fish and seafood jumped 8.6 percent.
Critics say that disconnect is exactly why Rollins’ meal suggestion struck such a nerve.
To them, a single chicken portion, one broccoli spear, and a lone tortilla didn’t sound like fiscal responsibility—it sounded like austerity dressed up as nutrition science.
As the Trump administration pushes its “eat real food” mantra, the internet’s verdict is already in: when Americans are struggling to afford groceries, telling them to subsist on what looks like a cafeteria tray is a recipe for ridicule.
