The centralized preparation is a lesser evil from the description. You can still cook well tasting very healthy food that was done early in the morning and then

The centralized preparation is a lesser evil from the description. You can still cook well tasting very healthy food that was done early in the morning and then distributed, there is 0 reasons why it should be worse and no need for any bad chemistry to make it last. After all, check what first class is served in airplanes, it often looks and tastes amazing yet it was done 4-15 hours before. The issue I think is way more fundamental - look at general US portions everywhere - at home, restaurants, school. Those ain't normal sizes for any human being to eat sustainably. How much physical effort is paired with that, also how the dinner looks like (cue - it should be lightest meal in both size and content of whole day). Kids eat what they see parents eating and whats available home. Can't expect kids of obese parent(s) to have some healthy habits. And so on