For once the question is answered as posed (well, presuming the answer(s) provided by the author below are universally agreed).
Is it better to buy canned or frozen food?
I had actually thought fresh was best, but allowing this option to be a given (or...is it? If an NZ lamb can have a better enviROI than near home... as I have heard it suggested).
The points on freezing being an ongoing energy draw are well taken (which is why we have decommissioned one big effort to no more than an insulated larder in fvaour of a wee one to keep the ice cream and a few other, er, 'essentials'), and the recycling aspect of cans is 'interesting' (another PP on the ground to ground cycle of steel/alumimium per gram of food vs. a plastic sack). As to chilled, well, today I fear I (other 3 not too keen) might well enjoy a salad sideplate with lunch, and mostly for coneveince, but also with a hat-tip to waste (too many soggy, smelly, leaves ejected if not used that day), it may well be an option I still consider.