Local Salt?

An essay by Pat McGovern, gardener and local foods advocate living in Lebanon, NH. She is the founder and coordinator of Upper Valley Localvores. www.uvlocalvores.com

When the Upper Valley Localvores took their first 100-mile diet challenge in August 2005, we came upon a serious stumbling block. No local salt! Tomatoes and corn on the cob were abundant, but oh, we needed salt. Fortunately, one of our members had vacationed in Maine and brought back a supply of sea salt. (Thereafter, Localvore Challenges allowed limited "wildcards" for use of non-local items such as salt and spices.) It made us wonder what our Upper Valley ancestors had done for salt.

One would never guess from the bad press salt gets today that it is an essential nutrient. All mammals need it. Early humans obtained salt from the wild animals they ate; wild animals found natural salt licks to meet their needs. But with the domestication of animals for meat and the addition of more vegetables to their diet, humans needed to find new sources of salt for their animals and for themselves.

Prior to modern refrigeration, salt was also needed to store venison and other game, beef, pork, and fish. Think of traditional New England dishes: New England boiled dinner, made with corned beef (which was salted beef, "corns" being any small bits such as salt crystals); codfish cakes (made with salt cod); and Boston baked beans with salt pork. Also think of the brine-filled pickle barrels of old-time country stores. Where did our Vermont ancestors get their salt?

Many of Vermont)2s early settlers in the southeastern part of the state traded their small surpluses (cattle, potash, and other farm produce) in Portsmouth or Boston in return for staples such as salt. There was trade with ports along the Connecticut River. In the Champlain Valley, rafts and other boats headed north on Lake Champlain to trade their wares for salt and other imported goods in Montreal. Trade also took place across the lake with Troy and Albany. As village stores were established, farmers were able to exchange surplus farm produce such as butter, cheese, maple sugar, corn, oats, tallow, pork and cordwood for salt and other staples.

PRIOR TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, MOST SALT WAS IMPORTED FROM ENGLAND, SPAIN, PORTUGAL AND THE BRITISH COLONIES IN THE CARIBBEAN. SALT WAS CRITICAL TO THE FISHING INDUSTRY OF COASTAL NEW ENGLAND, SINCE MOST OF THE CATCH WAS PRESEVED AS DRIED SALT FISH. THERE WERE A FEW DOMESTIC SALT WORKS LOCATED ALONG THE NEW ENGLAND COAST, SUCH AS THOSE IN SALEM, SALISBURY AND GLOUSTER, MASSACHUSETTS, BUT WET WEATHER MADE THE EVAPORATION PROCESS DIFFICULT.

In 1775, in response to rebellion in the colonies, the British imposed a naval blockade, causing a serious shortage of salt and other imports. Colonists ON THE COAST responded by boiling sea water, using an enormous quantity of wood to produce a small amount of salt. (Four hundred gallons of seawater were needed to make one bushel, or 50 pounds, of salt.) When a congressional committee proposed financial incentives for domestic production of salt, one of the many salt operations to start up was in Dennis, on Cape Cod. Windmills pumped seawater through pine log pipes to evaporation pans, but this could only work in summer when solar evaporation was viable.

Trade resumed with England after the Revolution, but was interrupted again as hostilities broke out between Britain and France. The United States attempted to remain neutral, but the British began boarding American ships in search of British deserters; an incident aboard the American ship Chesapeake resulted in the killing of three Americans. Many Americans were outraged and talked of war; President Thomas Jefferson responded with economic sanctions, imposing an embargo in 1808 on trade with England and its colonies, including Canada. According to The Vermont Encyclopedia, "The embargo created economic hardships for northern Vermont and New York, which had no access to other markets. Commerce continued by smuggling. Vermonters traded livestock and lumber for staples such as salt, coffee and cloth, often in sight of the British Army stationed near the border." The smuggling was frequently via Lake Champlain or overland through the area now known, fittingly, as Smugglers Notch. (Goods were often cached in the mountain caves and caverns while in transit.)

Even after the Embargo was lifted, Vermonters resisted the duty tax on goods imported from Canada. History records the sad and poignant story of Harrington Brooks of St. Albans, a 24 year-old father of two children, who was shot and killed while attempting to escape from customs officials with a skiff-load of salt. He was returning from St. Johns in Canada, on Nov. 3, 1811. When ordered to stop, he told the customs officials that his seven bushels of salt were destined for five different families who needed to cure their pork but they had no salt in St. Albans. He offered to pay the duties if allowed to proceed. The customs officials insisted on seizing the skiff and a chase and exchange of shots ensued, with Brooks eventually being killed. According to one source, "He pulled open his shirt and exclaimed, 'See what they have done, and fell forward dead upon the loading of the boat, covering the salt-bags with his blood."

Today, the hazards of salt are not in its deficiency nor dangers involved in trade. Instead, salt is abundant and inexpensive and we tend to use too much. The Great Salt Lake produces much of America)2s salt, as does a large salt mine below the city of Detroit. In Vermont, localvores look to Maine, where salt-making happens much as it did in the past.

At the Maine Sea Salt Company in Marshfield, Maine, fresh sea water from the Gulf of Maine is evaporated in greenhouses, known as "salt houses." Wind and the heat of the sun evaporate the water. When evaporation is complete, the salt is ready for packaging. The company offers salts seasoned with seaweed, herbs, garlic, and pepper, and there is a smoked sea salt, as well.

Are your taste buds tantalized? We'll just have to wait until summer for the tomatoes and corn on the cob!