animalbiz, keep in mind that the digestive tracts of even our domesticated dogs and cats are still no different than those of their wild ancestors, and certainly can not be compared to those of a human being.
i agree that a diet is definitely not something where a "one size fits all" approach works, but there is indeed evidence that especially processed dry food does more harm than good due to its low moisture content. this becomes especially evident in cats who are plagued by FUS of different kinds.
feeding a home prepared diet is by no means a step back, i suggest you read some good books on feeding natural diets, such as for example written by dr. tom lonsdale or dr. richard pitcairn. especially dr. lonsdale has described the disaster of dental disease in cats and dogs in great detail in his book "raw meaty bones".
it is true that most of our domestic pets do not hunt their own food anymore, but that has absolutely nothing to do with what their digestive system is adapted to, which is still meat, bones and fat, not processed food mainly consisting of grains, especially cats, which are obligate carnivores.
feeding fresh, raw meat is not a "fad" - that term is better applied to commercial foods, which only entered the market about 80 years ago and has only been widely available and affordable for people since after world war two. it used to be predominantly canned meat, which isn't quite as harmful as grain-based dry food, but eventually industrial use of grains in pet food became prevalent and of course has a greater profit margin, due to the cost of ingredients and packaging material.
unfortunately many people are taken in by the colorful, pseudo-scientific advertising of the pet food industry, which has evolved into a multibillion business in the last two decades or so.