Your grocery bill begins at an oil refinery and a natural-gas well. Kevin Freeman exposes the fragile chain connecting energy, fertilizer, farming, shipping, and food — and explains how foreign choke points, Chinese export restrictions, and domestic concentration can turn everyday groceries into an economic weapon. Discover what Washington, investors, and American families should do next.

Ep 409 | Food Is Energy: The Hidden War Behind Your Grocery Bill

Economic War Room

I've written this episode three times. Not because I changed my mind, because the facts kept changing underneath me. In April, fertilizer prices were exploding and the Strait of Hormuz was shut. In June, a peace deal got signed. Ships started moving. Prices collapsed almost all the way back. Crisis over. That's what nearly everyone reported. Then seven days after that,

an Iranian drone hit a cargo ship in the strait. The strikes resumed. The blockade came back. And Iran has now announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz again, and maybe it's open again. Commercial traffic is running at roughly one-tenth of normal. War risk insurance on a single supertanker has gone to eight times peace time. Meanwhile, the American Farm Bureau surveyed about 5,700 farmers,

and roughly 70% said they could not afford all the fertilizer that they would need for the 2026 crop. And ground chuck hit a record $6.98 a pound. Here's what I want you to understand. This was never a crisis. A crisis ends. This is a condition. Food is energy, and energy is a battle space. Stay with me.

Welcome to the Economic War Room. I'm Kevin Freeman. Now, one housekeeping note before we start, and here it matters more than usual. This episode is pre-recorded, and the story has been moving in days, not months. Some of what I'm about to describe will have changed by the time it reaches you. It's not a disclaimer. That's actually the point of the episode. So every number I give you is stamped with the date I got it.

Ep 409 | Food Is Energy: The Hidden War Behind Your Grocery Bill

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

Ep 409 | Food Is Energy: The Hidden War Behind Your Grocery Bill

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.