In a nation where the price of a pound of beef has become a measure of economic anxiety, the Department of Justice has turned its gaze toward nine of America's largest grocery retailers — among them Walmart, Kroger, Costco, Amazon, and Publix — seeking to understand whether the forces shaping what families pay at the meat counter reflect fair markets or something more troubling. The inquiry, framed by the Trump administration as a response to a critical affordability concern, is not yet an accusation but a formal summons for answers. It arrives at a moment when the concentration of power in fo