BETWEEN THE SUPER – and the farmers’ markets is the middle ground – on which growers too small to deal with the supermarkets but with harvests too big to move at a once-a-week market stall find a fit with the new corner stores.

Not so many years ago, a farmer with a few pumpkins or lettuces to spare could take them to the big local supermarket. The fruit-and-veg manager would pay cash for the product and everyone, including shoppers, could sense the relationship between local producers and the local supermarket.