Thanks for clearing and playing the game!
Good point. Opening up/unlocking new facilities was handled pretty carelessly, so the design basically ended up being "if you don't have time, just use potatoes or whatever you gathered before." Thanks for pointing that out!
Right now, building the curry facility is pretty much the only thing to do (and like you said, that facility is already unlocked anyway). I'd like to tweak it so unlocking things feels more exciting and something to look forward to.