[onlyrealcuzzo]

Anything frozen & prepared seems to be taboo -- like a frozen pizza. But frozen peas and berries are fair game. Everything else seems to come down to branding.

I've seen premade refrigerated pizza fly off the shelf. I've seen drinks with all kinds of highly processed ingredients sell like hotcakes. I've seen condiments with a list of ingredients as long as a phone book purchase by plenty of people that eat only "real food".

Protein powders and supplements intrigue me to no end. These are some of the most processed and unregulated things sold on shelves. But "real food" advocates literally eat them up.

One of my friends is making millions catering to this group. I've been trying to figure out how these shoppers think. To me, it doesn't seem like there's much in common. It seems to be mostly branding.

[maximente]

consider signaling. if you only eat "real food", you give off a vibe (not proof) that you're some mix of: educated, with disposable income, purveyor of quality

this is largely the same with other quasi-positive labels (esp. political ones). lots of $$ to be made here, as people generally want to reinforce both their own and others' perceptions of them.

[SolaceQuantum]

"Anything frozen & prepared seems to be taboo"

This sort of thing always seems super american centric to me personally. It's common in chinese households to have a stash of frozen dumplings prepared in-kitchen, or frozen steamed buns, or various other frozen prepared foods that are kitchen staples. I get that if it's from a restaurant or big processing plant you might find things questionable, but if you prepare your own pizza and decide to freeze it for later I don't think anyone should besmirch you as suddenly less healthy compared to eating the pizza as soon as you made it.

[wutbrodo]

I don't think anyone has a problem with food you cook and freeze. "Frozen foods" in this context are generally understood to mean "packaged frozen food, prepared by the seller" (which excludes the corner case of a local charcuterie preparing and freezing something).

[emodendroket]

I think many people do have a mistaken impression that frozen produce is less nutritious than fresh. Kind of an inverse version of the "health halo" that attaches itself unjustifiably to products like "pure, natural" cane sugar.

[SpicyLemonZest]

I had that mistaken impression until this very second, and I've been buying a lot less vegetables than I should for fear of fresh ones going to waste. Guess I have a good new years' resolution now.

[emodendroket]

Nice to know Internet comments can have a positive effect on people's lives once in a while.

[triceratops]

> Anything frozen & prepared seems to be taboo -- like a frozen pizza

> I've seen premade refrigerated pizza fly off the shelf.

To be fair most frozen pizza is terrible - pre-baked bread that you're reheating, little better than frozen cheese toast. Whereas premade pizzas tend to be freshly made and you're baking the dough. So they taste a lot better.