The massive chains are always the cheapest in town. Until they're the only ones in town, then the prices rise. This is the strategy, they kill local businesses then set the prices.

I appreciate the choice many be difficult for you as an individual, but appreciate you are making the wrong choice. I need, and sometimes just want, to make bad choices too.

Look up "farm boxes" or "farm co-ops" in your area.

My brother lives in the city but get a big box of local produce delivered weekly. It's really cheap too for how much he gets. I'm pretty sure the program is just called "local farm box" or something like that.

I mean, have you reached out to your local farms/CSA groups to inquire about delivery and encourage them to establish something like that? The pandemic definitely pushed a lot of groups to incorporate that into their model, if you haven't checked recently you might be surprised. I mean, even if it's just to demonstrate interest for a pick up point in your area or ask if they're affiliated with a local supplier who does deliver, it never hurts to reach out

Some CSAs do home delivery. They are great where they exist, but CSAs cannot scale enough to impact this problem.

You don't find that the fruits and vegetables from Walmart expire so much faster than from other grocery stores? It's especially bad when we had it delivered by instacart because they just didn't care and would grab the first thing they see rather than pick through it like I would. And of course that's what you expect because they're not the ones eating it.