i hate that fresh produce is generally more expensive than processed food. the stupid way i see it is like this:
making fresh produce
put a stupid seed in dirt (and for the record, dirt is widely available from what i understand), grow a plant, harvest, possibly put in a cooler, package and ship to the store.
making processed crap
put a stupid seed in dirt, grow a plant, take about eleventy billion of the plants to a warehouse, store them, chop them up, add shit, then funnel them down to a bucket of oil. now get some other stuff, process it with other stuff, put the oil on the other stuff to make it tasty, add stupid amounts of sugar, make it into the shape of a dinosaur or spongebob squarepants, put it in plastic, freeze the F out of it, put it in a box covered in cartoons, then store it in another freezer and ship it to the store.
a short shelf life can't make up for that much extra crap put into processed food.