Also, there weren't chemicals involved other than a lot of salt & vinegar.
We do the same with meat, but that is mostly frozen.
The whole pseudo-science around "whole food" and "too much processing" is just that. Bunk. I spent my college and 20s years getting fatter because I ate a lot of fast food and restaurant meals (loaded with sugar and carbs), drank a lot of beer, and spent a lot of time sitting on my ass at work.
The McDonald's cheeseburger isn't bad for you because it's "processed", it's bad for you because it's 350 calories, served with another 300 calories of fried potatoes and at least 20 oz of sugar water. The seemingly healthier burrito at Chipolte is pretty much the same... although you can contemplate the more humane treatment of the pig/cow/chicken.
The idea is that you want to get closer to the source. For example, getting produce from the store that was shipped from Guam is possibly laden with chemicals used to preserve it until it reaches your grocery store. On the other hand, buying direct from the farm cuts out the need for that.
Also, food that has been cooked and recooked several times, then blended with food artificial preservatives is probably less healthy than (on average) than the food you make yourself from scratch.
Combine that with the fact that many industries explicitly target the "bliss point" when formulating their recipes... and you're probably better off with a home-cooked meal than a frozen microwave dinner.
Some people might find this situation perfect because it helps to limit consumption. In reality, snack food companies see this as a defect in their product and attempt to engineer the limitation away.
I'd rather have food that tastes good but is still something I'm able to eat in moderation. I get that food makers have no incentive whatsoever to get me to eat in moderation, but that looks like a different thing from the "bliss point."
It's a lot easier to buy something that's not disastrous for you at Chipotle, though. If I get a salad bowl there, I'm not hungry for 6-8 hours.
Too bad you can't get yogurt at McD's that doesn't have strawberry syrup laced through it and the fruit, or a salad dressing that isn't insane for calories (it's what happens when you add flour and sugar to ranch).
Yeah my problem with McD's is that the patties themselves aren't all that great and kinda salty.
A good grilled chicken lettuce wrap sandwich would be great.
But will leave you feeling fuller for longer because it comes with more volume and with more complex carbs and stuff.
We grew up on a farm, dirt-poor and did it out of necessity but it was all delicious food: pickles, relishes, canned fruit, jams, jellies, home-made tomoto sauce.
We also laid in bushels of produce into cold storage - potatoes, squash, apples and cabbages.
Do I need to mention what we froze?
Blanched peas, green and yellow beans, corn (cut off the cob) and home grown lamb, pigs, beef and chicken (both kinds).
I am far more well off then my parents were at the same age, but my kids are not nearly as well fed (nutritionally) as I was at the same ages.
Now that we are in prime harvesting season for a lot of this stuff, I might have to rethink what we're eating and preserve some simple, homemade foods.
Source: have been canning last few weeks, info straight from the 'Weck' bible.
Look, I'm not picking sides here, but let's not look at the past with rose colored glasses. When I tell my aunts that I'm canning, they look at me like I'm nuts. They lived much of their lives having to can on a farm, and they love the ease with which they can live their lives now, and the options they have.
The canning overall wasn't the primary source for the nutrition but it was a part of the overall strategy of prepare and store the food, outside of the "food industry".
And trust me, I remember the hard work clearly but I may be looking at the past wistfully wondering how to get my kids to eat more vegetables.