Globe and Mail taps Helmore to cover ag and food policy

Ryan Macdonald, senior editor for climate, the environment and resources at The (Toronto) Globe and Mail, sent out the following on Monday:

Please welcome back Kate Helmore, who starts today in the newly created beat of Agriculture and Food Policy Reporter. Kate will initially work out of Vancouver, before relocating to Toronto for a year starting in mid-January.

Kate spent the past two summers as an ROB reporter in our summer jobs program, building a reputation as a skilled, insightful and tenacious business reporter, often pursuing under-covered stories in the agriculture and food sector. Now, she returns to make this her full-time beat, filling an important and growing need in our coverage of Canadian business and its role in the global economy.

“I’m looking to make The Globe the authoritative voice in Canada’s coverage of agriculture,” Kate says. “I want Canadians to feel like they understand where the food they eat comes from, and I want them to be inspired, excited, skeptical and, above all, informed about this industry that – facing climate change – stands at a crossroads.”

Above all, Kate says, she wants to show that “farming and food production is meaty stuff dripping with conflict, laden with curiosity and brimming with a number of odd characters.”

Kate holds a Masters degree in Journalism from the University of British Columbia. She has reported for CBC, The Tyee, Canadian Geographic and Capital Daily. She has worked as an associate producer on CBC Radio’s Cross Country Checkup, and a chase producer for The Globe’s City Space podcast.

Kate boasts that she once fed a grizzly bear honey from the palm of her hand, and (obviously) lived to tell the tale. Her own food policies strongly favour cheesecake and lasagna, though more from the standpoint of consuming than producing. She also likes to swim laps, dance tango, mountain bike and visit bookstores.