Recently, Brooke Rollins was slammed for things she said that you would only expect from the elite. Honestly, nobody is surprised. The republican Agriculture Secretary made comments that poor people can sustain themselves on a $3 “piece of chicken.” In an out-of-touch way that you wouldn’t believe unless you heard it yourself, she claimed that poultry, fruits, and veggies are less expensive than other alternatives “in many ways.” Now, a Nebraska man is trying to see if that’s true.
When Brooke Rollins claimed that Americans could sustain themselves on “a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla, and one other thing,” we all audibly laughed. First of all, that sounds awful and like too little food for any one person. But what makes it worse is that eating for $3 is nearly impossible anywhere in the U.S. TikToker @straightarrownews went out to make the exact meal she mentioned. In doing so, he discovered that it’s not easy to make a meal for $3 and, in fact, you’ll likely spend a lot more.
A spokesperson for Straight Arrow News decided to hit up three separate stores to get the same ingredients to make a ‘Brooke Rollins Special’ $3 meal. He says that in Omaha, Nebraska, “prices are generally lower than most states.” His first stop was at Aldi. Aldi is one of the most “affordable” grocery stores. In the end, he grabbed chicken, tortillas, broccoli, and a bag of rice. He spent $16.12 out of pocket, which is quite a bit over the $3 Brooke claims.
The spokesperson also went to Hy-Vee, where he was able to buy one piece of chicken by itself and the other mentioned items. His order total came out to be $10.05. His last stop was Whole Foods, which is “on the higher end of the price spectrum” due to its organic items. Not surprisingly, he spent $13.85 altogether.
Now, the spokesperson said that, technically, Brooke Rollins’ claim “checks out.” At Aldi’s, his checkout price was $16.12. But on a technical level, breaking it up comes out to $0.75 per serving. However, many poor families across America don’t have that lying around upfront. On top of that, not every family has access to an Aldi store. It’s privileged to assume that families can make those $3 meals work. As this spokesperson says, “For most Americans, that upfront cost matters. You can’t just go to the movie theater and buy a 75-cent handful of popcorn. You have to buy a whole bag of popcorn for around $8. And consumers don’t live in simulation math. They live in checkout math.” That deserves a mic drop.
On top of that, one commenter mentioned, “So cool you can work for an hour and not afford a meal.” Another person pointed out another catch: “Not to mention you need some sort of oil or butter to cook with and hopefully some sort of seasoning.” This further proves that government officials are wildly out of touch with most of the people who voted for them. That says something.
