[Hiring] Food and Agriculture Reporter @Straight Arrow

Role Description

Straight Arrow is looking for a Food and Agriculture Reporter to cover how America gets fed – and why that process has become a source of economic stress, political conflict, and cultural confusion. This role focuses on the systems behind what we eat:

• Farming
• Food production
• Supply chains
• Pricing
• Policy and environmental impact

This reporter will dig into the mechanics of food systems, breaking original stories, exposing pressure points, and decoding the narratives that surround them.

• Connect what happens on farms, in factories, in boardrooms, and in courtrooms to the lived experience of everyone who eats.
• Balance fast-moving news with deeper enterprise and accountability reporting.
• Show how power structures and information framing determine what Americans eat and pay for.

Responsibilities

• Break exclusive, original stories on food and agriculture, including pricing, consolidation, labor, regulation, and industry practices.
• Report on farming, food production, and supply chains with attention to economic power, market dynamics, and consumer impact.
• Investigate antitrust issues, lawsuits, regulatory enforcement actions, and government oversight related to agribusiness and the food system.
• Analyze how policy decisions, corporate behavior, and environmental pressures shape food availability and affordability.
• Use data, public records, court filings, and regulatory documents to support enterprise and investigative reporting.
• Cover daily news, such as price swings, shortages, and legal or policy developments, with speed, clarity, and context.
• Examine how food and agriculture issues are framed by media, industry groups, and political actors.
• Regularly pitch story ideas for breaking news, explainers, and longer-term investigations aligned with SAN’s mission.
• Develop sources across farming, agribusiness, restaurants, labor, government, legal, and academic communities.
• Collaborate with editors and multimedia teams to translate reporting into digital, video, and social formats.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, environmental studies, agriculture, economics, public policy, or a related field is preferred.
• 3-5 years of proven experience as a reporter covering food systems and agriculture.
• Demonstrated ability to generate scoops and exclusives through sourcing, records, and persistence.
• Experience reporting on antitrust, litigation, regulatory agencies, or corporate accountability is strongly preferred.
• Comfort working with data, public records, and legal documents.
• Strong researching, writing, and storytelling skills; proficiency in AP Style.
• Ability to explain complex systems clearly without advocacy or oversimplification.
• Comfort working under tight deadlines while managing longer-term enterprise projects.
• Familiarity with SEO, CMS tools (such as WordPress), and audience analytics.
• Experience with multimedia or cross-platform journalism, or willingness to learn.
• Commitment to clarity, transparency, and unbiased reporting.

Benefits

• The salary range for this position is $80,000-$100,000.
• Comprehensive health and wellness coverage for employees and their dependents.
• Generous paid time off, paid holidays, and floating holidays.
• Health coverage, vision, and dental plans.
• Retirement plans like the company's 401(k) plan with company match.
• More benefits to support work-life balance.

Company Description

Straight Arrow is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees, regardless of race, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or veteran status.