Transportation cost is far less a concern in agriculture than transportation time, and that really only for time-sensitive crops which cannot be feasibly frozen, refrigerated, or processed. The other exception is goods which are consumed in quantity but cannot be light-weighted, most notably fresh dairy. Previously this might have included eggs, but their production has been hugely upscaled (with corresponding problems evidence presently in the form of bird-flu pandemics, flock culls, and consequent high prices for eggs and poultry).

For bulk agricultural commodities, that is, staple grains, time-sensitivity is measured in months to years, and shipping is virtually a non-issue.

For anything that can survive freezing, once a cold-chain is established, there's similarly little issue. This includes a great deal of meat, including much of what's served as "fresh" or uncooked, such as restaurant sushi (salmon sushi is in fact flash-frozen then thawed, in large part to kill parasites). Some fish and shellfish is best consumed fresh, though much is not and may be frozen or otherwise preserved (e.g., canned or pickled fish).

Many non-frozen commodities can be refrigerated, notably apples and bananas, though there may be some cosmetic defects which occur, or mealiness for apples stored from the end of one harvest season to the beginning of the next.

Transport is most critical in fresh fruits and some vegetables, though there are frequently alternatives (with some slight decrease in texture, though usually not in nutrition which may in fact be superior to unfrozen alternatives). These are generally not staples, and most households or food-service organisations can make do with substitutes.

Much greater concerns for food generally are overall affordability, access, "food deserts" in which traditional grocery stores don't exist --- a problem previously largely applicable to blighted urban areas but not increasingly experienced in rural regions and some suburbs. This has also long been an issue with native communities such as reservations in the US and elsewhere. General nutritional balance is another issue, as is access to either food storage and preparation (particularly as housing becomes an increasingly fraught issue in more developed countries) or foodservice (commercial and noncommercial meal and food preparation).

Vertical farming is ... very much a solution in search of a problem. The challenges are interesting, I'll grant, but not especially relevant.

And largely, transportation pales relative to distribution, particularly in conjunction with other inequality factors.

As for meal prep, it's interesting to reflect that the concept of equipping every single residence with full food storage and preparation facilities is a recent development (20th century, often surprisingly late) even in much of the developed world, and is compounded by the tendency to both "nuclear family" and small household (1--2 members) residences. In the late 19th century, individual apartments would have lacked food-preparation with residents eating shared meals in rooming houses, restaurants, pubs, or at work, and many households were both multi-generational and included (and fed) a significant service class. There were exceptions, but the modern 1--4 person household in which multiple meals had to be prepped and served daily is quite modern.