The Organic Salad.
The lush greenness of the planet encourages us all to eat more vegetables. National Salad Month is the perfect time to promote your produce and salad toppings.
It's May. Spring is in full bloom. Tender blossoms emit a sweet fragrance and the warm air inspires gardeners and farmers. The lush greenness of our surroundings often make us want to eat more salads, and so since 1937, we've been celebrating National Salad Month in May.

National Salad Month offers opportunities for conventionally grown produce and salad toppings, but it offers particularly lucrative potential for your organic products.

Salad has a long history. The word itself comes from the Latin herba salta which means "salted herbs." The Romans, however, weren't the first people to enjoy salad. The Egyptians and people of the Asia were known to eat their vegetables sprinkled with dressings. Some of these early dressings were soy sauce, oil, vinegar, worchestershire sauce, and dried herbs. So it goes without saying that if salad has had a long history, so has salad dressing.

Salad dressings are often the reason many of us eat salads in the first place. They add richness, complexity, flavor and sometimes spicyness. Sales of salad dressings continue to escalate: in 1950, Americans bought about 6 million gallons of salad dressing; in 1970, we bought about 34 million gallons; now we buy well over 60 million gallons of salad dressings (source: the Association for Dressings and Sauces).

Many retailers offer organic produce, and now would be an opportune time to promote the sale of organic fruits and vegetables like lettuce, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, broccoli, tomatoes, onions and more.

What's equally important are the non-vegetable items consumers enjoy, namely the salad dressings. These days, there are so many organic dressings to choose from (and Haddon House carries many of them). But don't forget other organic items to top salads, like croutons, bacon, chicken, cheeses and eggs.

Many people today are concerned about their health in several different ways. Many of them may simply want to shed their winter layer, but many are also concerned about the use of pesticides on farms, the use of drugs and hormones in the dairy industry. Organic items are usually healthy foods to begin with, without chemicals and preservatives, but they also must meet strict guidelines, so that means no hormones, antibiotics or pesticides.

Haddon House carries a vast assortment of organic items just in time for National Salad Month. We have dressings, cheese, croutons and more. Contact your sales representative for more information.

Photo by Dena O'Hara.