Ireland is Healthy

Ireland is full of healthy food. Fresh produce. Bread made in front of your eyes. Jams and jellies produced within Ireland. Lots of food that you find in Ireland is made in Ireland. When you compare this to the U.S. it's a completely different story.
The U.S. has food shipped from all over there world. It's not to say that the U.S. doesn't make some of it's own food, but compared to Ireland I found that most of the food I find in store within the U.S. hold more foods and produce from outside of the U.S. than it does from inside. This doesn't necessarily mean it's unhealthy, but if you're shipping foods, especially produce, that typically means there needs to be preservatives and chemicals to keep the food fresh. However, the food isn't always actually fresh, like in Ireland. It's just saturated with chemicals that keep them 'fresh'
All of the chemicals and preservatives that the U.S. throws into it's own food isn't surprising either. Now only do we accept food containing chemicals from outside the U.S., but we'll also find that the produce that is grown in the U.S. typically is full of preservatives as well. This is the only kind of life I've known growing up, so when I arrived in Ireland and most produce went bad within a week, I was shocked.
I remember attending a meeting with past students who studied in Cork before I left, and most of them mentioned how food goes bad really quickly, so you'd have to go to the market basically every week. I honestly didn't take this to heart. I didn't think I'd actually have to do that, but in actuality, I do. I go to the market every week, and buy only what I need for the week or else it will go bad. And I've come to enjoy this because it mean's that I don't have to worry about eating food containing chemicals.
I also feel like the produce in Ireland tastes better. It's fresh, usually very flavorful, and I know it's chemical free. Not to say that produce in the U.S. tastes bad, but there have been times when I could taste the chemicals.
Ireland also doesn't have as many 'snack' foods as the U.S., which are really just foods packed with junk and fake flavors. The U.S. doesn't really care what it gives to its people, which sounds harsh, but after being in Ireland and seeing how much less they have for snacking, it makes me question why the U.S. even allows some of these snacks into out country. It's not helping us in any way, and it's not good for anyone.
Ireland has made me realize that the U.S. has a long way to go. We might want all these chemicals because it makes food last longer, and typically people doesn't want to go to the grocery store all the time so buying food that will last long makes sense. But in the long run, getting fresh food, and knowing that the food you're consuming is chemical free should be what we truly want.