“One question, for example: when Adam ate of the non-forbidden fruits and veggies, did they die? Or did they somehow survive harvesting, mastication, and digestion?”
You are correct.
Even the comment from God to Adam to “tend the garden” implies that certain plants were to be purposely discarded or thinned.
After the fall, “tending” means getting rid of weeds and such.
Weeds did not exist before the fall.
“Tending” meant “caring”.
There was no death before the fall.
The fall was how death entered into God’s creation. Romans 5:12