Different people seem to have different needs for salt. On the whole, most people all over the world today use salt in their food. But what about the people in primitive times who weren’t able to find any salt near them? They simply got along without it!

The fact is, salt was unknown in many parts of America and India until it was introduced by Europeans. There are still parts of central Africa where salt is such a luxury that only the rich can afford it.

Salt is not very necessary for people who live mainly on milk and meat, especially if they eat the meat raw or roasted so that the natural salts are not lost. But people who live chiefly on a cereal or vegetable diet, or who boil their meat, have a great desire for salt.

Man began to use salt every day with his food when he stopped being a nomad, wandering about and hunting for his food. Once he settled down to an agricultural life, salt became a habit with him.

But salt has always been more than just something to put in food. It has always had a symbolic meaning. For example, the phrase “bread and salt” is common all over the world as a way of saying food for life. In ancient times, when sacrifices were offered to the gods, salt was used as part of the offering and so had a special religious meaning.

Because salt is used to preserve foods, it became a symbol for something that lasted a long time. In Biblical times, when people wanted to make a covenant or agreement, they made it over a meal with salt, and so we have a phrase in the Bible, “a covenant of salt.”

As more and more people wanted to have salt available at all times, it became an important factor in commerce. One of the oldest roads in Italy is called the Via Salaria, or the salt road, because salt was brought in along this road.

Our word “salary” comes from the word salt, because in Roman times a “solarium,” or allowance of money for salt, was given to the officers and men of the Roman army!