Take a look at the coupons you find in your local paper, in stores and just about everywhere you look nowadays. What you will see are deals designed to make you fat and get you hooked on garbage foods. 99% of all coupons are for pre-packaged, pre-processed foods that we should not be eating.

The Coupon Conspiracy

Published: Tuesday, 15 Feb 2011 | 6:24 AM ET Share| Cincinnati - Conspiracy may be a bit of a stretch, but not by much. As food prices continue to soar to all time highs, we find ourselves looking for any way to save a buck. Coupons are the most popular way to save, and for many families they are the only way they save, but are you really saving anything?  Take a look at the coupons you find in your local paper, in stores and just about everywhere you look nowadays. What you will see are deals designed to make you fat and get you hooked on garbage foods. 99% of all coupons are for pre-packaged, pre-processed foods that we should not be eating. The entire system is a joke really. We buy our Sunday papers and start clipping coupons for cookies, frozen foods, pre-made dessert snacks, cereals, and just about everything else that contains corn syrup, high sugars, preservatives that we will never be able to pronounce, and ingredients that have no place being in half the products they represent. So the question is why. Why do we still use these little paper killers? Well in short, because we don't know any better. The simple fact is, is that coupons remain a manufacturers form of currency. Buy our products and we will give you money. Our products are not good for you and we know that. We know that if you start to pay attention you may not buy our products at all. What happens is, manufacturers get together with retailers and work out a way for them to raise prices on the products that we all use everyday, and in return they issue coupons every week for those same products. Your portions get smaller and the prices go higher. It is simple economics people. Do not get caught in this trap.  Ask yourself this, would I still buy this product if it did NOT have a coupon? Would I even be considering this purchase if I couldn't save $1 with my coupon I just clipped? The answer in short, is no. Most of use end up buying useless products , that in a normal trip to the grocer, we would not ever consider buying. So why now? Why buy this processed junk when you never did before, to save a buck?  The reality is, that in order to save huge amounts of money you would have to start to photocopy your coupons, and you can't do that. So what is the point? To be just like those people on the daily talk shows? You know the ones, they have a shopping cart full of salad dressing and air-fresheners. Who really needs 82 air-fresheners and 35 salad dressings? How many times have you seen a coupon asking you to buy 2 of something so that you can save $1? Almost all of these coupons will require you to purchase to two products so that you can save little money. The problem is, you normally would not buy any of them, but now you have a coupon so you rush around looking to buy these useless products. So you just spent $6 to save $1. The amount of time spent each week "couponing" could be spent making real meals for your family.  Do coupons help? NO. Coupons help the manufacturer, the store and their bottom line. They do not (however) help the everyday person buying the products. Coupons are designed to shift your focus from what you need, to what you can save a fews cents on. They reach into that innocent part of everyone that likes pretty colors and shiny paper. The truth is, that coupons (for all their savings) actually cost you more at the grocery store than if you never used them. Don't be a slave to corporate greed. Don't let yourself continue to fall victim to this non stop machine.  It is very simple folks, throw your coupons away and start shopping like you care about your health. Put together a weekly shopping list of staple foods that you need. Put together a weekly menu of meals that you actually like to eat. Make sure you keep your pantry stocked with foods that are needed and not the ones that contain more ingredients than parts in your car. If you need a place to start, Check out our weekly food menu tab and our 2011 food supply list. Either way, stop being a victim and start being the cure. Stay educated, Stay healthy, Stay alive Chef Alan ©2011