Ray Keating, chief economist for the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council just posted a Thanksgiving-themed opinion column of this title.
Personally, I tend to think of pumpkin pies for Thankgiving. Perhaps that's why the piece caught my eye. It's worth a read. Keating makes the point that there are "seemingly countless individuals and businesses that must coordinate their efforts to make sure pie lovers are happy on Thanksgiving." He simply reviews the recipe for a cherry pie and the production processes that produce the "shortening, flour, salt, sugar, margarine or butter and, of course, cherries." (full disclosure: Keating cites the Salt Institute for his information on salt).
Keating references Adam Smith's "invisible hand" to explain how myriad self-interests combine to produce a public good. I was reminded, even more, of R.W. Grant's classic, The Incredible Bread Machine, which has just been re-published (see the online reviews at Amazon.com ).
Enjoy your pie, whatever ingredients you use (mine will be pumpkin!) -- you'll surely be using salt. And be thankful for the competive marketplace that has produced such abundance at historic bargain-basement prices -- whether of pies, of salt or of any of a million items in daily commerce.
Most American historians with any sensitivity to the strategic significance of salt will recognize that Saltville, VA, in the far southwestern corner of the Old Dominion, was the scene for two major battles as the Confederacy fought to protect its sole source of this crucial mineral and the Union tried to tighten its economic blockade.
Retired Virginia Tech chemistry professor Jim Glanville has done more than any person to restore the luster of Saltville's rich heritage, including a steady publicity effort. His latest media foray appeared in today's Richmond Times-Dispatch, entitled "A similar tale predates Pocahontas " in which Glanville tells the story of an early Indian "chieftainess" who married a European (acually, one of two recorded).
As Virginia prepares to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Jamestown settlers in 1607, Glanville recounts the documented vist -- a full 40 years earlier -- of 15 Spanish conquistidores who sacked the fortified Indian village erected at Saltville to obtain salt from the saline springs there. The Spanish boasted of burning 50 huts and killling 1,000 defenders, though Glanville considers this hyperbole. In any case, the "first battle of Saltville" was 290 years before the Civil War clash.
Looking for a Christmas gift that's perfect for a young person who you'd like to know about salt? Consider The Story of Salt by Mark Kurlansky with wonderful illustrations by S.D. Schindler. It's a digestable version of Kurlansky's Salt: A World History. (No, we get no royalties; this is an unsolicited testimonial). Says the School Library Journal:
"Kurlansky uses salt as the lens through which to present a new perspective on history. [T]he author mixes science, history, and personal anecdotes, resulting in a fascinating look at this amazing substance. Schindler's humorously detailed pen-and-ink drawings with colorful washes enliven the narrative and help to convey the wealth of information in the text. A lively and well-researched title, with exemplary art."
Never we're John Donne's words more appropriate than in today's global village. Operating in an international environment can only benefit from broad-based relationships and a knowledge of what is going on around the world. Louis Pasteur, whose public health achievements I've described in two textbooks once said, "Chance favors the prepared mind." In keeping with that precept, the Salt Institute has maintained a close relationship with The Salt Science Research Foundation (SSRF) in Japan, exchanging technical information and new developments, whenever possible. On October 16, Mr. Hitoshi Kusume, President of the Salt Science Research Foundation, and Mr. Kiyoshi Kawabata, Associate General Manager, visited the Salt Institute and had an excellent meeting with Dick Hanneman who assisted them with visits to other venues in North America.
While on a private visit to Japan, I took the opportunity to return the visit and dropped by the SSRF offices in Tokyo where I was kindly received by Mr. Kawabata and the Managing Director, Dr. Tsutomu Ikeda.
The SSRF has significant funding from the Japanese government and is able to sponsor a significant amout of truly cutting edge research in a variety of salt-related areas. Among the projects we had an opportunity to discuss were genetic analysis being carried out on a range of hypertension and salt-sensitivity areas, as well as salt tolerance/acclimatization and taste response research using the latest DNA microarray analysis methods. Whenever possible, we will continue to share and exchange knowlege with colleagues in the salt sector on both sides of the Atalantic and Pacific to everyone's mutual benefit.
The accession of Congressional Democrats, Daniel Ortega's Sandinistas and Margaret Chan are big news this week.
Speaker Pelosi, and likely-Majority Leader Reid promise to push the U.S. government in an undefined "new direction" and the patience of incoming Democratic committee chairs will test civility in Washington. Only a dramatic gesture from President Bush such as replacing Sec. of Defense Don Rumsfeld (with former US Sen. Sam Nunn) and/or accepting V-P Dick Cheney's resignation (to be replaced by Colin Powell) can preserve the President's ability to set the agenda effectively for the last two years of his term. As the phone company Verizon advertises: "Can you hear me now?" The election underscores the importance of listening in our democratic government.
In Nicaragua, it's probably "head for the exits" time as Daniel Ortega returns as president with a plurality in a multi-candidate field. When the Sandinistas ran the country from 1979-1990, according to the International Monetary Fund, per capita income in the country fell by two-thirds.
Dr. Margaret Chan won nomination as the new Director General of the World Health Organization, the first woman and first Chinese national to hold the post. She had been in charge of public health in Hong Kong. Passed over, appropriately, was Finland's Pekka Pushka, who spearheaded WHO's unfortunate foray into publlic health nutrition with its Global Strategy embodied in Report 916.
