Value Chain Coordination Editorial Circle

The Common Market staff at workUSDA AMS logo            The Food Connection at the University of Kentucky

VCC Program, Policy, and Practice Briefs are supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under Cooperative Agreement No. AM240300WAMSC005 (Value Chain Coordination).

LATEST NEWS FROM the VCC Editorial Circle

June 2026: VCC EC Announces the publication of the first VCC Brief HERE!

June 2026: VCC EC Announces TWO CALLS for Briefs

April 2026: The Value Chain Coordination column, "Turning supply chains into value chains," is published in the spring issue of JAFSCD. See:

Hall, A., Edwards-Orr, L., Carberry, A., & De Luca, E. (2026). VALUE CHAIN COORDINATION COLUMN: Turning supply chains into value chains. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 15(2), 5–9. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2026.152.039 

April 2026: Our first VCC Brief is under review and will be published in May. Stay tuned! If you have questions about or suggestions for the series, please be in touch with Associate Editor Anaya Hall, PhD. If you’d like to submit a topic for a brief, please visit our Briefs Guidelines page.

Value Chain Coordination call for briefs

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VCC EC Purpose

The purpose of the JAFSCD's Value Chain Coordination Editorial Circle (VCC EC) is to advance research and publishing in the food distribution domain of the food system. 

Associate Editor: Dr. Anaya Hall, Postdoctoral Scholar, The Food Connection at the University of Kentucky

Dr. Anaya Hall

VCC EDITORIAL CIRCLE MEMBERS

The Value Chain Coordination Editorial Circle is made up of the scholars and practitioners below, who will also jointly produce the quarterly column in JAFSCD.

TWO CALLS FOR VALUE CHAIN COORDINATION BRIEFS

VCC CALL #1. OPEN CALL for a Broad Range of VCC Program, Policy, and Practice Briefs

JAFSCD’s Value Chain Coordination Editorial Circle (VCC EC) invites submissions to its ongoing series of Program, Policy, and Practice Briefs. This peer-reviewed series of 2-page briefs distills well-established policies, programs, and practices in local and regional food systems into concise, high-impact publications designed to inform and inspire practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and advocates working across the food system.

The VCC EC broadly defines value chain coordination as the development of networks, information channels, and partnerships that support thriving and sustainable regional food economies. Briefs in this series synthesize current best-known practices in VCC, with an emphasis on approaches that have demonstrated endurance over time or have been formally evaluated to demonstrate effectiveness.

The 600-word submissions should offer broadly applicable lessons and may address any dimension of value chain coordination work, including but not limited to:

  • Financing and economics: Funding models, cost structures, and economic analysis of coordination infrastructure and enterprise development
  • Evaluation and learning: Measuring economic and non-economic impacts; building an evidence base for funders and policymakers
  • Coordination and governance: Cooperative structures, legal forms, and decision-making models for collaborative food enterprises
  • Strategic and business planning: Enterprise development, succession planning, and organizational sustainability
  • Scaling strategies: Expanding market reach and coordination capacity without compromising values
  • Distribution and logistics: Transportation, warehousing, and supply chain infrastructure in regional food systems
  • Market matchmaking: Connecting producers and buyers across diverse market contexts and geographies
  • Branding, marketing, and quality control: Labeling, differentiation, quality assurance, and identity-based marketing for values-aligned products
  • Institutional procurement: Engaging anchor institutions as stable markets; contract design and procurement policy levers
  • Information technology: Digital tools, data infrastructure, and barriers to adoption for smaller enterprises
  • Trust and transparency: Relationship-building, information-sharing, and accountability practices that sustain coordination over time
  • Regulatory compliance: Navigating food safety, licensing, and legal requirements across the supply chain
  • Economic opportunity and market access: Strategies for expanding market participation among small, beginning, and underserved producers and communities
  • Labor in the food supply chain: Workforce development, worker-centered enterprise models, and labor advocacy
  • Risk and resilience: Managing climate, market, and operational risk at the enterprise and system level
  • Policy and advocacy: Governance, political engagement, and policy design in support of values-based food systems

VCC CALL #2. SPECIAL TOPIC CALL: Institutional Food Procurement

Hospitals, schools, universities, and other anchor institutions spend billions on food each year, yet purchasing largely defaults to national supply chains, bypassing the regional farms, food hubs, and cooperatives best positioned to deliver on institutional values. Closing this gap requires coordination infrastructure that connects aligned producers and buyers operating under procurement rules designed for other purposes.

The VCC Brief Series is actively soliciting submissions on this theme, including segment-specific coordination (K–12, healthcare, higher education), contract and RFP design, policy as coordination driver, and measuring values-based outcomes.

GENERAL DETAILS ON BRIEFS

Briefs should be grounded in well-documented programs, policies, or practices, including post-mortem analyses of initiatives that were restructured or discontinued. Coauthors are encouraged to collaborate across practitioner, researcher, and policy roles.

Program, Policy and Practice briefs are peer-reviewed and follow a concise format (approximately 600-word narrative, plus references and resource links). See the JAFSCD brief guidelines for guidance. Please FAQ below.

VCC Briefs require presubmission evaluation and invitation. To submit a query form and share your draft, CLICK HERE. Associate Editor Anaya Hall will follow up with you within two weeks with a decision on whether you are invited to submit your brief for peer review.

Please note, this brief series is published through a USDA-funded project. Authors should be aware that, under current publication requirements, some submissions may need adjustments in terminology or framing during the editorial process. Where possible, the editorial team will work with authors to preserve the substance of a contribution while ensuring that briefs can move forward within the guidelines of the series.

For More Information about the VCC Editorial Circle or the VCC briefs series, contact the VCC associate editor, Dr. Anaya Hall.

VALUE CHAIN COORDINATION BRIEF FAQ:

What kinds of submissions are you looking for?

We're looking for briefs that surface tested, durable ideas about how value chain coordination works in practice. The brief should represent the state-of-the art on a specific coordination challenge, opportunity, mechanism, or approach, and synthesize lessons or evidence that can inform decision-making by others working in similar settings. As they are for the benefit of practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers, briefs should be matter-of-fact and not self-congratulatory. A strong submission doesn't just describe what a program did; it distills what coordinators, practitioners, or policymakers learned in a way that travels beyond a single context. Case examples of a failed effort may also be very instructive.

Do I need to submit by a deadline?

The ongoing call for briefs is open on a rolling basis; you are welcome to submit a query at any time. Special topic calls within the series may have specific deadlines, which will be announced separately.

How long will this series run?

We expect to be publishing briefs in this series for the foreseeable future. This field is dynamic, and well-timed contributions on emerging coordination challenges are especially valuable.

Do I need an academic co-author?

No! Authoritative expertise matters more than institutional credentials, and practitioner authors are especially welcome. If you're a coordinator, program manager, or practitioner who knows this work from the inside, you're exactly the kind of author we're hoping to hear from. That said, it may strengthen your brief if you have an academic co-author who can help provide context and citations to applied research that support the brief. We may also recommend or help you find a co-author.

How long should my submission be?

The query submission form asks for a 250-word description of your topic’s contribution, separate from the brief itself. The brief has section-specific character limits set out in the Brief Guidelines; the main narrative is limited to 5,000 characters including spaces (approximately 700-800 words). You do not need a complete draft to submit a query, although attaching one can speed review.

How does the process work?

  1. Submit the query form with a 250-word topic description and optional draft.
  2. The Associate Editor conducts a desk review within a few days. 
  3. If it’s a fit, you’ll receive an invitation to submit formally through our manuscript submission portal. 
  4. Double-blind peer review is conducted with a two-week turnaround target.
  5. The Associate Editor notifies you of acceptance, revision, or decline.
  6. Accepted briefs are copyedited, formatted, and published as they are completed.

What happens if my brief isn’t accepted or isn’t the right fit for the series?

Depending on your topic, we may suggest: 

  • Another brief series or JAFSCD’s general Research Brief pipeline.
  • Voices From the Grassroots, for first-person practitioner narratives that are more reflective.
  • Viewpoints, for arguments and perspective pieces. 

Your Associate Editor will work with you to find the right home for your work.

Is there a submission fee, and are waivers available?

Authors who are not affiliated with a shareholding institution are asked to join the JAFSCD Community by becoming an individual JAFSCD shareholder before submitting. Joining is free; a $25 donation is requested but not required. To join, visit jafscdcommunity.org.

Are international submissions eligible?

In general, yes, although the VCC series is primarily focused on U.S. value chain coordination given the relationship with USDA. That said, international experience isn’t categorically excluded; one productive path is collaborating with a practitioner based in North America to frame insights for broader transferability.

Where are finished JAFSCD Briefs published?

Briefs are assigned a DOI (durable object identifier) for permanent linking. They are shared on a dedicated page on the JAFSCD website: https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/jafscdbriefs

What counts as ‘value chain coordination’ and how do I know if my brief qualifies?

Value chain coordination refers to the mechanisms, relationships, and decisions that enable supply chain partners to work together effectively—things like how risk is shared, how volume commitments are negotiated, how trust is built over time, or how infrastructure is structured to serve smaller producers. It is distinct from describing a food supply chain, documenting program outcomes, or advocating for better evaluation.

A useful test: could this brief change how a coordinator works? If another coordinator could read it and do something differently, then you're likely in the right territory. If you're unsure whether your topic qualifies, reach out to Associate Editor Anaya Hall at anaya.hall@uky.edu before submitting—we're happy to think it through with you.