Let's visit a farmers' market

Direct-to-customer sales are as old as farms.  My earliest relevant memories go back to the 1960s, when my family would take a different route home from church in the summer in order to visit a roadside stand and buy corn-on-the-cob for 60c/dozen, plus little baskets of tomatoes and cucumbers.

Nowadays local governments facilitate the process by setting up locations, typically in the parking lots of large urban or suburban malls. 

The one closest to me is set up under a pavilion that provides shade.  Local farmers back their trucks up and sell off the tailgate or provided tables.

As you enter, a sign provides guidelines for optimizing personal and community health.  Interestingly, although our governor's mandatory mask order only applies to indoor venues, and although this pavilion is wide open to fresh air, I was pleased to note that everyone I saw (vendors and customers alike) were masked.

The traditional offerings are fresh veggies, but it is typical to find vendors with fresh baked goods, cheeses, honeys, canned goods, eggs... even goat meat.

The veggies will be the star of the show - hand-picked, washed, inspected, and stacked neatly.  The difference from a standard large-chain grocery store is striking.

And finally, some non-food items, such as gourmet dog biscuits, soaps, handicrafts, and of course flowers.

If you don't know where your local ones are, just type "farmers market" into Google Maps.  Doing so yields 17 hits within a 15-minute drive from my home.  Try it for yourself.