Artificial sweeteners get people hooked on the food (often young so that they wont accept anything different) and preservatives make shipping times slightly less demanding. As for the general poison, it's all stuff that makes the food more attractive and addicting. It doesn't necessarily need to make the food taste good, so much as make someone want to buy it. And it adds volume where there wouldn't be in a natural food. If you want natural, the best you'll get nationwide in the US is wholefoods. You should get the fuck out of the city/suburbs though, and find a small country town to live on the outskirts of. They need labor and the cost of living is low, and if there are any farms nearby you might be able to buy/bum some fresh trims off of them, under the table of course. The best option at any rate is to buy and maintain your own farm, but chances are you never will.