reSee.it Podcast Summary
Nate Halverson describes The Grab as an investigative look at how money and power are concentrating control over food, land, and water across the world. The goal, he says, is to show that in the 21st century the rich and powerful are turning to food and water as strategic levers, with governments, Wall Street, and billionaires like the Gates family emerging as owners of large tracts of farmland in the United States. Halverson, an independent writer and Center for Investigative Reporting contributor, broke ground years earlier by examining China’s move into the world’s pork market. He traveled to Hong Kong, spoke with US intelligence, and found that the Chinese government was behind the Virginia pork company acquisition, illustrating a pattern: food is political power.
He notes that food has become a national security concern. In Venezuela, he witnessed food riots, lines to enter grocery stores, and a warehouse where soldiers and police carted out food to be distributed to authorities in order to keep the population in line. As he followed stories around the globe, he saw dots connect: land grabs in Madagascar, arid Saudi Arabia tapping aquifers to grow wheat in the desert and then shipping alfalfa to meet domestic needs; and the same logic applying to pigs and grain, creating what he calls “virtual water” — moving water through crops and animals to feed populations elsewhere.
In the Arizona example he covered in 2015, Saudi purchases of land and water created anxiety for locals whose wells were dropping. He explains the law in parts of the West that allows large buyers to pump water without regard to neighbors, so water can be exported as crops. He emphasizes that 70-80% of global fresh water is used to grow food, while drinking water accounts for a fraction, making water the critical resource behind food production.
Halverson argues this trend is not confined to distant places. Across the United States, smaller farms are increasingly being bought by Wall Street funds or foreign entities, with foreign ownership of agricultural land growing but poorly tracked. He cites a United Nations World Water Development Report statistic that billions lack safe drinking water or sanitation, while oceans of water are extracted to feed crops. Africa, he says, has seen aggressive land grabs by international players displacing indigenous families, a pattern echoed in the American West and other regions.
He discusses the broader geopolitics: China’s rise as a manufacturing power, Russia’s emergence as a food exporter, and Ukraine as a strategic breadbasket. The documentary also touches on the ethics of private influence in journalism, technology, and food systems. He explains his nonprofit funding through the Center for Investigative Reporting, the importance of corroboration and multiple sources, and the value of public information for democracy. He ends with reflections on community, purpose, and the need to foster real connections beyond screens.