Platform Roadmap

Planned, active, and completed development work for the VFS Community Grocery Risk Assessment platform.

A visual, data-driven map overlaying grocery access gaps with population demand signals. Combines Census demographics, store location data, and distance decay modeling to identify where demand for grocery access is highest and supply is weakest.

A predictive model that flags stores at risk of closure before they close. Draws on store tenure, ownership type, surrounding demographics, competitor proximity, and SNAP participation trends to produce a forward-looking vulnerability score.

A composite index measuring the gap between local food spending potential and the capacity of existing grocery infrastructure to capture it. Surfaces communities where residents are spending food dollars outside their local economy.

An overlay connecting grocery access gaps to downstream healthcare utilization and cost data. Supports the argument that grocery investment is a healthcare intervention, useful for hospital community benefit programs and Medicaid planning.

A spatial analysis layer identifying farms within viable supply distance of underserved communities. Maps production capacity, crop type, and distribution readiness to support farm-to-community sourcing strategies.

A matching tool that connects farms with excess or underutilized production capacity to food desert communities with demonstrated demand. Surfaces actionable supply chain opportunities for cooperative development and food hub planning.

An alert system that identifies communities at risk of losing their last grocery anchor and notifies nearby farmers of the emerging market opportunity. Intended to activate local supply chain responses before a closure becomes a crisis.

Ongoing refinement of the store classification pipeline: improve accuracy for ethnic grocery stores, co-ops, community markets, and independent retailers that lack consistent Google Places or SNAP data. Reduce false positives for gas stations and dollar stores that carry food but do not constitute meaningful grocery access.

Allow users to add a hypothetical store (name, location, category) directly from the results page to model the impact of a new grocery store opening in the community. The added store would be included in re-scored results alongside the existing store verification controls.

A tool quantifying the dollar value of food spending that leaves a community due to inadequate local grocery options. Translates access gaps into economic terms that resonate with economic development stakeholders and local government.

A model estimating how much household food spending leaks to retailers outside a defined geography. Supports community investment cases by demonstrating local economic multiplier effects of a new or retained grocery anchor.

A return-on-investment estimator for grocery-related policy interventions such as tax incentives, grants, or infrastructure investments. Enables policymakers to compare intervention costs against projected economic, health, and access outcomes.

An assessment of the physical and logistical infrastructure constraints that prevent grocery development in underserved areas. Covers cold storage, road access, broadband, and facility availability to support site-feasibility analysis.

A data layer identifying farmland at risk of transitioning out of food production due to ownership change, development pressure, or operator retirement. Supports proactive land-use planning and farmland protection efforts.

Tools connecting aging or retiring farmers with succession planning resources and potential next operators. Designed to prevent productive farmland from leaving food production when operators retire without a clear handoff plan.

An analysis layer quantifying the direct and indirect employment supported by grocery retail in a community. Strengthens the workforce development case for grocery investment alongside the food access and economic development frames.

A platform component supporting the logistics of moving locally produced food from farm to underserved community. Addresses aggregation, transportation, and last-mile distribution challenges that prevent local supply chains from closing the gap.

A site-selection and scheduling tool for mobile grocery and farmers market operations. Uses demand mapping, traffic patterns, and demographic data to identify optimal stop locations and operating schedules for mobile retail.

A feasibility assessment framework for farmer-owned cooperative grocery ventures in underserved areas. Evaluates demand, capitalization requirements, operating models, and governance structures to support cooperative development decisions.

Longitudinal tracking of community grocery risk scores across assessment cycles. Enables communities to monitor whether conditions are improving or deteriorating and measure the impact of interventions over time.

An analytical layer correlating specific grocery interventions (new store openings, SNAP expansion, mobile markets, etc.) with changes in community risk scores. Supports evidence-based decision-making for funders and policymakers.

Integration of transportation and mobility data to refine grocery access scoring. Accounts for transit routes, vehicle access rates, and travel time rather than straight-line distance, producing more accurate effective-access measurements.

The current two-tier urban/rural classification is a simplification. Future work should explore a more nuanced approach using USDA rural-urban codes or tract density metrics to assign access thresholds that better reflect real-world grocery travel norms for suburban, exurban, and small-town contexts.

Allow authenticated users to compare multiple saved assessments side by side, useful for planners evaluating several neighborhoods or grant writers documenting relative need across a service area.

Generate a shareable read-only URL for a completed assessment, allowing users to share findings with stakeholders without requiring them to re-run the assessment or hold an account.