"Basic cell chemistry" is a term that is very reductive. Long-held wisdom is that we don't eat animals that have died of natural causes. But a dead animal's cel

"Basic cell chemistry" is a term that is very reductive. Long-held wisdom is that we don't eat animals that have died of natural causes. But a dead animal's cell chemistry is largely functional for days to months after its death. So yes, I would argue significantly more heavily processed; edible plants need to be biologically viable in order to be useful for food production. That is not a guarantee that it will be safe or good, but as a heuristic I think it's a solid one, since the changes are within the bounds of the variability that is achievable through natural reproduction.