MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • December 4, 2022
Unless you lived near the sea, until very recently, surface salt has always been rare. And before 20th century–salt mining technology was developed, extracting subterranean stores of salt was very difficult. But given the price of table salt today (just 78 cents per pound in the United States), many Americans over consume it. There are three saltern operations based in Maine that produce food-grade salt using nothing but sea water and solar (and a bit of human) energy. Maine-based spice companies blend Maine sea salt with everything from allspice to sea vegetables. And grocery stores and specialty retailers are making Maine sea salt in various forms more readily available to shoppers. ~ Christine Burns Rudalevige