- Welcome to Viable Food Community.
Build stores. Strengthen stores. Build the people and systems that help them last.
Recent posts
#21
Announcements / Calendar and Event Posting
Last post by Viable Food News Desk - Today at 05:55 PMUsing the Community Calendar
The calendar is public to view. Publishing is initially limited to Trusted Contributors, Viable Food Specialists, IFSIC Facilitators, moderators, and administrators.
Suitable entries include:
Use a clear title, correct date and time zone, concise description, authoritative link, and the organizer's name. Check the calendar first to avoid duplicates. If you cannot publish an appropriate event, contact a moderator.
Privacy matters. Treat every standalone calendar entry as public. For an IFSIC-only meeting or event, create or link it through a topic in the appropriate private IFSIC board so access follows that board. Never put confidential meeting details, private access links, or personal contact information in a public event.
The calendar is public to view. Publishing is initially limited to Trusted Contributors, Viable Food Specialists, IFSIC Facilitators, moderators, and administrators.
Suitable entries include:
- Training, conferences, and webinars
- Grant and application deadlines
- Public meetings and listening sessions
- Site visits, tours, and store-owner events
- Other time-sensitive events that directly serve this community
Use a clear title, correct date and time zone, concise description, authoritative link, and the organizer's name. Check the calendar first to avoid duplicates. If you cannot publish an appropriate event, contact a moderator.
Privacy matters. Treat every standalone calendar entry as public. For an IFSIC-only meeting or event, create or link it through a topic in the appropriate private IFSIC board so access follows that board. Never put confidential meeting details, private access links, or personal contact information in a public event.
#22
Welcome to Viable Food Community / How to Get Help With a Viable ...
Last post by Viable Food News Desk - Today at 05:55 PMStart in the board for the tool you are using.
Before posting, check the tool's on-screen instructions and search its forum board for the same issue. If you still need help, include:
A screenshot can help, but remove personal or confidential information first. Never post passwords, access links, private records, employee or customer data, protected client information, confidential prices, or vendor terms.
The Illinois Food Access Map and Store Walk are publicly accessible. The Pricing Tool and Store Scheduling may require an authorized account.
Before posting, check the tool's on-screen instructions and search its forum board for the same issue. If you still need help, include:
- The tool name
- The page, feature, or step involved
- What you expected to happen
- What actually happened, including the exact error text when useful
- Your browser and device
- Clear steps that reproduce the problem
A screenshot can help, but remove personal or confidential information first. Never post passwords, access links, private records, employee or customer data, protected client information, confidential prices, or vendor terms.
The Illinois Food Access Map and Store Walk are publicly accessible. The Pricing Tool and Store Scheduling may require an authorized account.
#23
Welcome to Viable Food Community / About Viable Food
Last post by Viable Food News Desk - Today at 05:55 PMAbout Viable Food
Viable Food helps local and independent food retailers thrive, and helps communities create, stabilize, and protect durable grocery access.
Its work includes grocery development, feasibility, store stabilization, operations, technical assistance, education, cooperative development, succession and ownership transition, practical tools, applied research, and peer learning.
The common goal is practical: stronger stores, better local capacity, and food-access solutions that can last.
Learn more about Viable Food.
Viable Food helps local and independent food retailers thrive, and helps communities create, stabilize, and protect durable grocery access.
Its work includes grocery development, feasibility, store stabilization, operations, technical assistance, education, cooperative development, succession and ownership transition, practical tools, applied research, and peer learning.
The common goal is practical: stronger stores, better local capacity, and food-access solutions that can last.
Learn more about Viable Food.
#24
Welcome to Viable Food Community / Introduce Yourself
Last post by Viable Food News Desk - Today at 05:55 PMIntroduce yourself, if you would like.
You might share:
Keep it comfortable and professional. Do not include private contact information, exact home addresses, credentials, or confidential employee, customer, client, financial, or project details.
You might share:
- Your first name and role
- Your store, organization, or project, if you want it public
- Your general city, state, or region
- The parts of grocery or food access you work on
- What you hope to learn, solve, or contribute
Keep it comfortable and professional. Do not include private contact information, exact home addresses, credentials, or confidential employee, customer, client, financial, or project details.
#25
Welcome to Viable Food Community / How to Choose the Right Board
Last post by Viable Food News Desk - Today at 05:55 PMChoose the most specific board that fits your purpose.
If a discussion fits more than one place, choose the board where the people most likely to answer will look first. Do not post the same topic in multiple boards. Moderators can move or merge topics when that improves organization.
- Food Access News & Opportunities: timely Illinois or national news, grants, financing, training, and actionable opportunities.
- Independent Grocery Operations: running and strengthening an existing store.
- Grocery Development & Transition: opening, financing, owning, converting, or transferring a store.
- Training, Technical Assistance & Resources: specialist questions, educational material, and durable resources.
- Viable Food Tools: guidance, feedback, bug reports, and improvement ideas for a specific tool.
- IFSIC Community of Practice: private IFSIC collaboration and project work.
If a discussion fits more than one place, choose the board where the people most likely to answer will look first. Do not post the same topic in multiple boards. Moderators can move or merge topics when that improves organization.
#26
Welcome to Viable Food Community / Community Guidelines
Last post by Viable Food News Desk - Today at 05:55 PMCommunity Guidelines
Viable Food Community is a practical, professional space for people working on independent grocery and durable food access. These guidelines apply to posts, replies, private messages, profiles, attachments, and calendar entries.
Contribute with purpose. Ask clear questions, share relevant experience, and add enough context for others to help. Use the most specific board and keep titles descriptive so useful information remains easy to find.
Treat people with respect. Discuss ideas, evidence, decisions, and practices. Do not attack people. Harassment, threats, intimidation, abuse, deception, hateful or discriminatory content, and deliberately disruptive behavior are not permitted.
Protect privacy and confidentiality. Do not post private store, employee, customer, client, vendor, financial, pricing, personnel, account, or project information without authorization. Remove identifying details from examples and screenshots when they are not necessary. Private boards are access-controlled working spaces, but they should still be treated with care.
Share recommendations honestly. Helpful recommendations and relevant commercial resources are welcome. Spam, repetitive promotion, unrelated solicitation, and link dumping are not. Disclose any employment, ownership, referral, sponsorship, or other financial interest that could affect a recommendation.
Respect copyright and sources. Link to the original source, identify the publisher or creator, and quote only what is needed for the discussion. Do not repost complete articles, paid materials, private documents, or files you do not have permission to share.
Use appropriate professional caution. Community experience can be valuable, but it is not a substitute for qualified legal, tax, medical, food-safety, employment, financial, engineering, or regulatory advice. State uncertainty clearly and do not present unqualified opinions as professional advice.
Correct mistakes constructively. If information changes or you discover an error, update the discussion when possible. Focus on improving the shared record, not assigning blame.
Help moderators protect the community. Use Report to moderator for spam, unsafe material, privacy concerns, or conduct problems. Moderators may move, edit, merge, lock, or remove content to protect people, enforce these guidelines, and keep information organized. Serious or repeated violations may result in account restrictions or removal.
By participating, you agree to follow these guidelines and the registration agreement.
Viable Food Community is a practical, professional space for people working on independent grocery and durable food access. These guidelines apply to posts, replies, private messages, profiles, attachments, and calendar entries.
Contribute with purpose. Ask clear questions, share relevant experience, and add enough context for others to help. Use the most specific board and keep titles descriptive so useful information remains easy to find.
Treat people with respect. Discuss ideas, evidence, decisions, and practices. Do not attack people. Harassment, threats, intimidation, abuse, deception, hateful or discriminatory content, and deliberately disruptive behavior are not permitted.
Protect privacy and confidentiality. Do not post private store, employee, customer, client, vendor, financial, pricing, personnel, account, or project information without authorization. Remove identifying details from examples and screenshots when they are not necessary. Private boards are access-controlled working spaces, but they should still be treated with care.
Share recommendations honestly. Helpful recommendations and relevant commercial resources are welcome. Spam, repetitive promotion, unrelated solicitation, and link dumping are not. Disclose any employment, ownership, referral, sponsorship, or other financial interest that could affect a recommendation.
Respect copyright and sources. Link to the original source, identify the publisher or creator, and quote only what is needed for the discussion. Do not repost complete articles, paid materials, private documents, or files you do not have permission to share.
Use appropriate professional caution. Community experience can be valuable, but it is not a substitute for qualified legal, tax, medical, food-safety, employment, financial, engineering, or regulatory advice. State uncertainty clearly and do not present unqualified opinions as professional advice.
Correct mistakes constructively. If information changes or you discover an error, update the discussion when possible. Focus on improving the shared record, not assigning blame.
Help moderators protect the community. Use Report to moderator for spam, unsafe material, privacy concerns, or conduct problems. Moderators may move, edit, merge, lock, or remove content to protect people, enforce these guidelines, and keep information organized. Serious or repeated violations may result in account restrictions or removal.
By participating, you agree to follow these guidelines and the registration agreement.
#27
Welcome to Viable Food Community / Welcome to Viable Food Communi...
Last post by Viable Food News Desk - Today at 05:52 PMWelcome to Viable Food Community
This is a practical, professional community for independent grocery operators, communities working to create or protect grocery access, food-system professionals, Viable Food specialists, IFSIC partners, and people who care about durable local food access.
Viable Food helps communities build stores, strengthen stores, and develop the people and systems that help those stores last. This forum turns questions, experience, resources, and lessons learned into knowledge that others can find and use.
A good place to begin:
Most of the forum is public. The IFSIC Community of Practice is private to approved IFSIC members. Wherever you post, protect personal, client, employee, customer, store, and project information.
This is a practical, professional community for independent grocery operators, communities working to create or protect grocery access, food-system professionals, Viable Food specialists, IFSIC partners, and people who care about durable local food access.
Viable Food helps communities build stores, strengthen stores, and develop the people and systems that help those stores last. This forum turns questions, experience, resources, and lessons learned into knowledge that others can find and use.
A good place to begin:
- Read the Community Guidelines.
- Choose the most specific board for your question or contribution.
- Search for an existing discussion before starting a new one.
- Introduce yourself if you would like to connect with the community.
Most of the forum is public. The IFSIC Community of Practice is private to approved IFSIC members. Wherever you post, protect personal, client, employee, customer, store, and project information.