Is Processed Food Really the Enemy?

The term "processed food" is interesting. We use it to label anything that is bad for you that is mass produced in a factory. The definition at Wikipedia.com doesn't match up with how we generally use the term:

"Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into something we can eat or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry. Food processing typically takes clean, harvested crops or butchered animal products and uses these to produce attractive, marketable and often long shelf-life food products. Similar processes are used to produce animal feed." (end of definition)

So, unless you are eating raw food as it naturally occurs, you are eating processed food. To narrow that definition, we could say that food is only considered processed if someone else processed it but does that necessarily make it bad? Or maybe just use the definition that if it has been processed in a factory, it is processed. So is my mom's homemade apricot jam is OK since she processed it at home and it wasn't made in a factory? I had considered trying to eat only unprocessed food even for a day (meaning eating no food processed in a factory) but then I decided that didn't really take into account that some food made in a factory might actually be a healthy option and I wasn't willing to give it up just to be able to tell myself I don't eat processed food. For example, I like my soy milk, cheese, mustard for my sandwich, almond butter to put on my bread, and even the syrup for my waffles. I know the syrup is bad for me but I'm not willing to give it up at this point. I'm also not willing to give up dark chocolate. The vast majority of what I eat is not processed in a factory and I keep replacing the things I can. If I really love a food that I can't make myself, I'll keep eating it even if it is considered processed.

Next up on my list to try: replacing store bought graham crackers with homemade ones. I'll keep you posted on that one.