In many ways mid-century produce could be better than today. Most suburban families had gardens and local farmers supplied local grocery stores. You didn’t get fresh strawberries in February back then but housewives could can or freeze their produce “at the peak of freshness”.
At the same time mid-century canned and frozen produce was becoming popular. It was perhaps less nutritious than fresh and local produce. By the 1950s processed food was beginning to make inroads into the family pantry too. Soup, Jello, pineapple, Kraft dinner and evaporated milk were just a few of the staples that you could always find in my mother’s cupboards. Housewives had a lot of work to do in a day, they were busy and they were being told from many sources that using canned, processed or frozen food to feed the family three meals a day was just plain smart.
It is only logical then that pre-made, processed foods became more ubiquitous and popular as the mid-century era went on. As children my brother and I loved Kraft cheese slices, or more accurately cheese product. I remember there being a big deal about not calling it cheese in TV ads as it had all kinds of ingredients that regular cheese did not. Cheez Whiz and cheese slices were family favourites. Any of these “processed cheese foods” were great on soft squishy white 
Wonderbread. Wonderbread was so soft that as a child you could easily squash it all out of shape carrying the loaf from the bread box to the table. I find that kind of bread really gummy and tasteless now but we loved it in sandwiches of all kinds in the early 1970’s. I just saw Wonderbread in a store today, although most of the packages clearly state they have added fibre. I didn’t dare squeeze it and risk squishing the loaf to the point where I might have to buy it!
The best lunch ever, as I recall, was grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. All of it processed but fast and easy to prepare and a crowd favourite even for the picky eater. A close second was Kraft Dinner macaroni 
and cheese with cut up hotdogs. Just thinking about the salt, fat and chemicals in it makes me wince but we loved it. So did my mom which is why we had it fairly often.
My husband says that Velveeta and Cheez Whiz were his family’s cheese foods of choice. You could tell it was a special day when you were served celery stalks stuffed with Cheez Whiz. Velveeta was the block of cheese that had to be sliced. He remembers the bright orange brick wrapped in waxed paper inside a yellow box. He doesn’t remember any particular recipes just sneaking cheese as a snack. He still snacks on cheese today, just not Velveeta.
I prefer sourdough or multigrain bread and 1 year old cheddar for my grilled cheese sandwich now, but I still usually reach for canned tomato soup when I recreate my favourite childhood lunch.
What does that say about processed foods? Or me?