this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2026
85 points (98.9% liked)

Political Weirdos

1347 readers
386 users here now

A community dedicated to the weirdest people involved in politics.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Donald Trump’s agriculture secretary has been mercilessly mocked after boasting that the government devised a new way for Americans to eat for just $3 per meal amid a nationwide affordability crisis.

Brooke Rollins claimed in a TV interview that her team had “run over 1,000 simulations” to find the most optimal nutritious dinner on a shoestring.

all 24 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] bytesonbike@discuss.online 35 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Is this satire?

That's either the smallest chicken, or the biggest fucking M&M

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

No, this is ChatGPT

[–] rhymeswithduck@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

The whole plate could be the size of a quarter.

[–] CaptDust@sh.itjust.works 28 points 1 month ago (2 children)

No rice? No beans? This meal sucks, atleast recommend something that will keep the rumblies at bay.

[–] Macchi_the_Slime@piefed.blahaj.zone 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Of course they wouldn't, it doesn't fit the narrative of what people should be eating they're trying to push. That whole "Ending the War on Protein" bullshit.

[–] valek879@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Ending the war on Cattle Baron wallets! Just think, if we all buy less steak the poor billionaires will have less money!

[–] Grace_Schlick@lemmynsfw.com 4 points 1 month ago

Seriously, black beans, brown rice, onions, oil, and salt. Garlic and/or a pig ear/trotter when you want to splash.

You need a source of water, a stove and a stable place, but you'll at least feel fed.

I am not a Sikh but I admire the shit out of their mass food preparation culture. They know how to keep their neighbors fed.

[–] FauxPseudo@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Over in c/cooking I include the price per person for every meal I post along with disclosing any cost cutting variables like using backyard eggs. It is very possible to cook for less than $3 a meal as long as someone in the house has two or more hours a day to do the cooking.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That sounds like a lot more time than necessary.

[–] FauxPseudo@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Depends on your priorities. Restaurants do not even offer the food I get cravings for. So even if I could afford the $15 to $20 per person they would charge I'd be getting not what I want for substantially more money.

Then there is the issue of time. I work for myself in a situation where I can't work an extra hour or two to buy this over priced food that I don't want. So it's not like I can work to buy the crap meal. So I make the food I want with the time I have for the price I can afford. Which is, kinda ideal. Definitely worth it.

I'm not spending two hours making boxed Mac and cheese. I'm spending two hours baking bread, making tortillas, slow cooking venison chilli. And two hours is on the long end. I can food a lot. So sometimes I might spend a few hours canning three gallons of chili but the day I want to eat the chili it's 50 minutes because I want fresh made cornbread with it. Why do meal prep a week in advance when you can do it a year in advance?

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

That's kinda my point - I cook in large batches as well, and the vast majority of nights it's a combo of prepared food that's being reheated or assembled in a matter of minutes. And a lot of that preparation, like with baking bread, is passive while you let the food do its thing.

[–] WallsToTheBalls@lemmynsfw.com 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Assign value you to your time and that’s beyond $3

[–] Grace_Schlick@lemmynsfw.com 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The rich trade money for time, the poor trade time for money.

[–] FauxPseudo@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

If I charged for my meals I would. But I could set the labor rate to a million dollars and it wouldn't change a thing.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

That's also more like a 75¢ "meal." Clueless.

[–] DERRALEXANO@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 month ago

At $3 they are still overcharging for what they offer.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 month ago

And yet beans remain nutritious, decently tasty, and less than $3 per meal.

[–] Taleya@aussie.zone 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Translation: They asked free chat gpt fifty times

[–] sness@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Free? Nah, paid grok with tax dollars for the kickbacks.

[–] WolfLink@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago

SAVED YOU A CLICK

The “meal” is:

It can cost around $3 a meal for a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, corn tortilla and one other thing.

[–] nullpotential@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago

What constitutes a piece?