Dr. Pete Sinelli will be speaking this Thursday, August 28th, at 6:30pm at the East End Marked in the Audubon Park Exchange. East End Market hosts A Taste of Science serious geared towards adults that pairs a science discussion with a related food demonstration. You can learn more about the East End Market and food demonstration paired with Dr. Sinelli’s presentation at the following link:
http://www.eastendmkt.com/events/taste-of-science/. Dr. Sinelli will be presenting “A Brief History of Salt: Beyond the Shaker on Your Kitchen Table.” The presentation is free to attend. See the abstract below:
Title: A Brief History of Salt: Beyond The Shaker on Your Kitchen Table
Today salt is as ubiquitous as sunshine. Across cultures, it is the most common condiment on the planet. Anywhere in the industrialized world a pound of it can be had at the grocery for less than a dollar, and in winter trucks dump millions of tons of it on our roads each time it snows just a little. And because it is so cheaply added to almost everything we eat to enhance flavor, our own doctors tell us to limit our intake of it because we consume too much of it without even trying.
But until about a century ago, salt was one of the most prized commodities on Earth. Humble salt? Why? Because it is essential to the biological function of all terrestrial vertebrates, including Homo sapiens. Over time as a species, humanity has demonstrated that it can get along quite nicely without agriculture, or fossil fuels, or even smartphones and Facebook. But we literally will cease to exist without a regular intake of sodium chloride. People need salt to live, and in past times when they did not enjoy the surfeit of it that we have today, they did whatever was necessary to obtain it.
The earliest states in human history trace their roots, in part, to management of this resource. The early Mesopotamian states and Chinese Dynasties funded their empires by controlling it, and fought wars with their rivals over access to it. It was so valuable, even Roman Legionnaires were sometimes paid in it (indeed the Latin word for salt, "sal", is the root word for the English term "salary"). Salt built empires. Salt dominated commerce and helped chart the path of many modern Nation States. Salt made some people millionaires while simultaneously subjugating countless others to its world order, even amongst indigenous peoples in North America who lived well before Columbus. It is a fascinating little rock, and the human aspect of its story will be revealed at this discussion.
Please visit the website to register for the free presentation. You may also register and pay for the food demonstration held afterwards if you wish to attend.
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