Link at Illinois Farmers' Markets HEALTHY Food for Everyone!

Welcome to the Groupsite for Link at Illinois Farmers' Markets!

We created this GroupSite as not only a way to share our Link Guide for Illinois Farmers' Markets, but also as a PUBLIC FORUM to help market staff and volunteers answer questions and share information and resources with each other.  We expect that the value and reliability of our Guide and its supporting documents will continue to grow as other markets post questions and add information about their own experiences.

Here's how to use this site . . . Under the FILE tab, you will find our manual titled "Illinois Farmers' Market Link Guide:  Establishing a Program to Accept Link Cards at Your Farmers' Market," along with supporting documents.  This Guide was developed by Heartland Local Food Network, Inc., based on its experience supporting implementation of a Link program at the Downtown Bloomington Farmers' Market in Bloomington, Illinois.

The manual provides a step-by-step guide for farmers' markets to become Link retailers, including detailed information, along with checklists and reference materials. In addition to including examples from our own experience, it also includes information about alternative approaches and tools.  By sharing this information, we hope to make it easier for other farmers' markets to achieve the same goal -- and to expand access to fresh, healthy food for low-income residents throughout the state of Illinois.

This site is a public meeting place that provides members of Link at Illinois Farmers' Markets with a shared calendar, discussion forums, member profiles, photo gallery, file storage and more. We encourage you to upload your photo, complete your profile and participate!