I don't know, I don't think the food quality has suffered due to the quantities of meals being prepared - caterers do it all the time. I think there have been some cut-back on the quality of ingredients.
But mostly (at least for me) I think its a recipe issue. The food just is not as tasty as it could be, which likely has very little to do with the method of preparation.
My guess is that all of todays varied diets have some part in this and they are trying cook low-sodium, low-fat, low-cholesterol, gluten-free etc.. ....somewhere along the way, the taste suffers. I think the challenge for the chefs to is to find a way to cook good food that appeals to the masses. I think this is what HAL has tried to achieive with their culinary council.