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I've participated in programs where I paid small local farmers upfront for boxes of produce throughout the growing season. The idea is that farmers get the money to buy seeds and starts, and the customer gets fresh produce as it's harvested.

Even as a relatively young, healthy person I had trouble using the produce. I would receive enormous amounts of just one crop - like turnips - for a few weeks in a row. Then I'd get a huge bag of cabbage the next week. One year I got double portions of everything and halfway through the summer the farmer said that was it. Season was over. And weather affected the quality. And it didn't keep long. Had to cook or can those cabbages right away because they turned brown after a few days. I threw a lot away.

It's not as easy as it looks to make this work. It's not the Disney fantasy of a box of fresh lettuce, strawberries, green beans, and squash. Those crops don't ripen at the same time.

That's why we have grocery stores.