[pinkorchid]

A very similar system is also common in small towns (population in the low hundreds or fewer) in Spain. Every few days a baker will come driving their van and selling bread, or a truck with fruit, etc. Even doctors and priests follow a similar pattern.

It's likely that one could drive for 30 minutes and find an even better selection. That assumes car ownership and the ability to drive, which is not widespread in the aging population in rural areas.

[dirktheman]

I used to work in a very small village in France. The bakery from the nearby city would bring a van full of bread to the campsite near the town, the reception would function as a 'depot de pain' for both tourists and villagers.

[tasogare]

In Northern France there is also the "baraque à frites" truck which comes to villages and sell French fries.

[joking]

Now they even accept request by WhatsApp. You can go to the nearest big town, but it’s much more convenient when they bring it to your door, and a van can serve 10-15 small towns each day.

[solotronics]

My first reaction is that this is sad but that is incredibly biased based on my expectation of having anything on demand.

[fxtentacle]

On the contrary. When I lived in such a village on vacation, it was incredibly liberating.

The bakery guy would have a promotion every week with something new for you to try, but apart from that you didn't have to make any decisions. I find choosing between 20 almost identical flavors of sandwich bread in your average supermarket to be much more mentally exhausting.

And since you knew which weekly special everyone else was trying out these days, you had a shared easy conversation topic with anyone.

Plus, to my big surprise the quality of frozen fish and vegetable packs was impeccable. Now, years later, I know that pretty much all "fresh" fish that you see in a supermarket is frozen for transport. So there's no difference.

[summm]

In Germany most fish is anyway required to be frozen for food safety: correctly freezing kills most parasites.

[distances]

Heh, and my first reaction was that this is awesome. Different viewpoints I guess.