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My father, born in 1914, was a youngster during the great depression. He schooled me to “pay yourself first.” Take 10% of your salary and put it away for the future.

Too many people these days seem to think past, current and/or future presidents have control of inflation. The Federal Reserve, not a government agency, does what it can to keep it under control and that has been successful so far. All countries in this entire world are suffering from different degrees of inflation. Our country isn’t doing too bad if you choose to look at the facts and educate yourself.

I want to make a point about purchasing powers. You have that in your control. Buy only what you need, not what you want. When I pick up 237 cigarette butts in a two mile walk that tells me these may be the same people who moan and groan about the high cost of food and yet they choose to inflict potential health risks to not only themselves, but to anyone who lives in the same household. I’m sure it’s hard to quit smoking, but lung cancer, chemo. and heart disease are far worse!

Now for the costs at the grocery store. Doritos are not food! Pop also has no nutritional value. Sugar is loved by cancer producing cells. If you started to add up the costs of non-food items you would see what a nice healthy meal could be had for that same amount of money. When I was a kid neighborhood grocery stores didn’t sell crap. It’s advertising executives who are convincing the dumped American people that too much of what is sold in the middle of a grocery (drug) store is actually food. It’s not. Look at the labels. If it didn’t come out of the ground, off a bush or tree, more than likely it is not food.

So please, don’t complain about the high cost of food, when too many of you aren’t even buying real food. Fast food, an oxymoron, will fill you for a while, but the sugar content in milkshakes, (corn syrup), French fries( corn oil) hamburgers (corn fed cows-they cannot digest corn. They end up dying before slaughter because of that). All of this sugar plays with your glucose levels and they go up to a peak and then fall about an hour or so later to make you feel hungry.

So back to my first point, pay yourself first (retirement age will creep up faster than you think) and buy only what you need and it will keep your body going in a healthy way. We don’t put kerosene in our cars and expect them to run, right?

Roberta Mistretta

Austin, MN