It’s the only rock we eat, and we need it to live. History has shown that those who have salt rule the world–and today, this versatile substance has 14,000 known uses. Travel to a salt mine 1,800 feet below Lake Erie where workers blast salt from a massive deposit spanning four states, to an evaporation facility near San Francisco where machines harvest salt from the briny ocean. Visit a Florida restaurant that offers 40 different varieties of salt…and journey to New York to explore salt’s surprising number one application: de-icing snowy winter roads. See how a high-tech desalination plant removes salt from ocean water, producing 25 million gallons of drinkable water every day. And if it’s speed you’re after, look no further than a natural drag strip in Utah made of pure salt.