How to Pitch United Chestnuts

We're glad you're here — and we mean that whether you're a grower with dirt under your fingernails and something worth saying, a researcher with findings that deserve a wider audience, or a food writer who believes the American chestnut story hasn't been told well enough yet.

United Chestnuts is a practitioner-led education and brand platform built to close the infrastructure gap in U.S. chestnut production. Our content — on this site, in our guides, and through our podcast Branching Out: Growing Together — reflects that mission. We publish stories grounded in real experience, field-based learning, and honest conversation about what it takes to build something serious in this industry.

We write for people already in the work or seriously considering it. If your story has something real to teach, we want to hear from you.

Before You Pitch

Spend time with our content before you write to us. Read through our published pieces, explore the topics we cover, and listen to a few episodes of Branching Out to get a feel for our voice and what we value. Ask yourself: does my idea add something our audience hasn't already seen here?

A few things to keep in mind:

We're practitioner-first. Everything we publish should be grounded in actual experience — real orchards, real data, real outcomes. We don't publish theoretical advice or secondhand generalizations. If your pitch is built on "some growers say" rather than "here's what we observed and why," it's not ready yet.
We zoom out. A strong piece might open on one farm, one harvest, one decision — but it connects that moment to something larger about the chestnut industry, sustainable agriculture, or the broader food system.
We are not a product promotion platform. We welcome honest discussion of tools, cultivars, processing equipment, and sales channels — but only in service of helping growers learn and grow. Pieces written to promote a business will not be accepted.
We take positions on industry standards. United Chestnuts is comfortable saying what we believe about how this industry should develop. Op-eds and commentary are expected to do the same — with evidence and a fair accounting of opposing views.
We write in third person, with the exception of op-eds and Field Notes, where a first-person voice is appropriate.
We require linking and sourcing throughout all pieces. If you make a claim, back it up.

What Kinds of Stories Are We Looking For?

Grower Stories & Profiles

A grower profile centers on a single person or operation — not just because they're doing something impressive, but because their story reveals something true and useful about what it takes to grow chestnuts in America. We want to understand how they got here, what they had to figure out the hard way, and what others can learn from their path.

Strong profiles include voices beyond the subject: neighbors, buyers, fellow growers, researchers — even skeptics. The best ones carry a vivid sense of place and personality.

Word count: 1,800–3,000

Field Notes

Research & Innovation

Translating new cultivar data, processing innovations, pest management findings, or scientific research into practical guidance for working growers. These pieces should bridge the gap between what researchers know and what growers can actually use. If you're a researcher, we'll ask you to write for the person who needs to make decisions by next season, not for a peer review committee.

Word count: 800–2,000

Q&As

Structured interviews with growers, researchers, buyers, processors, or food leaders whose work and perspective deserve a wider audience. A brief introduction sets the stage, followed by questions that carry the reader through a clear arc — how this person got here, what they've learned, and where they think things are going.

Word count: 300–400 (intro) + 1,200–1,800 (8–12 questions and answers)

Op-Ed & Commentary

A strong, well-argued position on something that matters to this industry — policy, standards, market development, land stewardship, the future of American-grown chestnuts. We welcome disagreement and debate. We do not welcome vague opinion or boosterism.

Good op-eds make a clear argument, acknowledge the strongest version of the opposing view, and leave the reader with something to act on or reconsider. First person is expected. Every factual claim should be linked to a credible source.

Word count: 800–1,200

Recipes & Food Stories

Consumer-facing content that connects American-grown chestnuts to the kitchen — recipes, ingredient explainers, seasonal cooking guides, stories about chestnut-based food businesses. These pieces should feel warm and accessible without losing the thread back to the growers and the land. We're not a food magazine, so a recipe without a story behind it isn't quite right for us.

Word count: 600–1,500

What We Don't Publish

Generic sustainable agriculture content without a meaningful connection to chestnuts
Single-business promotional pieces
Content based on theoretical knowledge, secondhand advice, or unverified claims
Pure AI-generated writing (see our AI policy below)
Restaurant reviews or consumer product reviews

How to Format Your Pitch

Write a three-to-five paragraph pitch that covers:

The idea — what the piece is about and what makes it worth reading
Why it matters now — what's happening in the industry, in the season, or in the broader food system that makes this timely
Your sources — who you'll talk to, what data or firsthand experience you're drawing from
Why you're the right person to write it — your connection to the subject, relevant experience, or reporting background

If you're a new contributor, include links to at least two or three pieces you've written that feel aligned with what we do here.

Submit your pitch using our online pitch form. We review pitches on a rolling basis and will be in touch within a couple of weeks if your idea is a good fit.

What Is Your Editorial Process Like?

Our editorial process is thorough but collaborative. Here's what to expect:

Drafts: Most pieces go through two rounds of editing. You'll always see changes before anything is finalized — no surprises.
Timing: Once a piece is assigned, we expect a finished draft within four weeks unless we've agreed otherwise. Our goal is to publish within a month of receiving your draft.
Fact-checking: Writers are responsible for verifying their own facts against credible, authoritative sources. Original documents — a university extension study, a USDA report, a published research paper — are preferred over secondary coverage of those sources.
Word count: We take word count ranges seriously. If your draft runs significantly long, we'll send it back for cutting before editing begins. Writers who deliver clean, on-length copy get published faster.

What Is Your AI Policy?

We're a practitioner-first platform, and our editorial standards reflect that. AI-generated content submitted as original writing will not be accepted.

If you use AI tools at any point in your process — for research, outlining, drafting, or editing — you must disclose that use when you submit your pitch and when you deliver your draft. Transparency matters here, and we'd rather know early than find out later.

Do I Need to Disclose Conflicts of Interest?

Yes. If you have a financial relationship, professional affiliation, or personal connection to any person, company, or product featured in your piece, tell us up front. Depending on the nature of the relationship, we may ask you to disclose it within the piece itself — or, in some cases, it may affect whether we can run the story at all. We'd always rather know.