> Simply using breeding, genetic engineering, and artificial growth to create more efficient and resilient crops isn't a bad thing, it only is if it somehow makes quality worse as a by-product.

Have you met the Red Delicious Apple? It was grown specifically for shelf life and aesthetics and it became so mealy and tasteless that people stopped eating it. [1]

[1] https://thecounter.org/history-economics-red-delicious-apple...