I grew up on a small family dairy and cash crop farm. Not enough flat land to go straight to crops. The cows, while needing a lot of work 365 days a year, meant a milk check coming in. When I was little, Dad had to put it in milk cans and haul it to the dairy. Only 25 or so cows, not like the hundreds and thousands that farms have now.
While my grandmother was alive, we had chickens. So milk and eggs were a given - as were old chickens and cows that no longer produced. Let me tell you, dairy cows that are old are not all that great eating. Some years we had a couple of pigs, but not always. Big garden, lots of freezing and canning. One of the crops Dad grew was kidney beans! I didn't even know they came in a can until I was grown.
Both of our girls grew up eating foods made from scratch, and like to eat good food. So now, they also cook from scratch. Our younger daughter has twins who are not quite a year old and are allergic to dairy, so their meals are somewhat unusual for babies, lol. No yogurt or cheese, for example. They love salmon and eat a lot of beans! She cooks them in an instant pot (aka pressure cooker), quick and easy. She's a single mom through the miracle of science - she didn't want to wait any longer so went the medical route. Was supposed to be one, but had identical twins. So inexpensive and quick are very important.
I honestly don't know if packaged foods were scarce here, it's not something we have on hand. Recently, I needed to make a dessert to take to a family and wasn't feeling inspired. Somebody said, "Just make up a cake mix!". Yeah, I don't have that on hand...