Growing up just south of San Francisco, Pat Gage was the oldest of five children. Everyone in the family helped out, and Pat started cooking and baking when she was in the third grade. �My siblings are all boys, so I had a great audience for everything I cooked. There was a lot of trial and error, but my Mom was an excellent cook, and she had a recipe book from World War II that helped me, too.�

After marrying, having a son, and moving to Sonoma County, Pat went back to school at Sonoma State University �for my own personal growth.� There she met another back-to-school mom, and they came up with the idea of spice blends. �In 1980, the natural foods movement was gaining momentum. My son Jason was always trying to figure out where I had tucked the tofu into his food!�

The company the women launched was called Parsley Patch. Jon Gage, Pat�s husband, was a partner with food brokers Chapman Tait, and it was his idea to reformulate the blends to make them the first to be all-natural and salt-free.

�Salt was being demonized in the 80�s. Though we were riding that trend, there were still a lot of growing pains. We learned quickly that there is no consultant who is going to come along and save you. We worked hard every step of the company�s growth and product development.�

At the end of the 80�s, seasoning company McCormick bought Parsley Patch. Over time, the much larger company lost the vital connection and passion that Pat had brought to Parsley Patch. �I loved the products so much that I would buy them after we no longer owned Parsley Patch. After a few years I discovered that I couldn�t find them in stores any more.�

Then one of those life-changing, revelatory moments occurred in Pat�s life. �When my mother was in the hospital recovering from open-heart surgery, we were shown a video about a heart-healthy diet to follow after the surgery. It featured Parsley Patch salt-free blends! I knew we had to get her blends back into the marketplace under a new name. The Parsley Patch customers were so loyal. They are thrilled to know we�re back with Engage Organics.�

The business is staying in the family. �Starting with my parents, we�ve always been a family of entrepreneurs, and that�s continuing with the next generation: our son, Jason Sherwood and our nephew Jeremy Fitzpatrick. Jason grew up in the Parsley Patch business, where he filled sample bags and helped in the warehouse. Both he and Jeremy are passionate about our mission to give their generation and their children's generation access to our blends.�

A new way has opened up for these young men to introduce the next generation to Engage Organics blends. California school districts are under a mandate to reduce salt and sugar in the foods served in their cafeterias. �By using the Engage Organics blends, they are discovering that they can heighten the flavor of food and hopefully change the kids� palates when they are still young.�

�Although people have less and less time to prepare foods, they still want their food to taste good. They want to eat whole, organic foods. They know they need to reduce the salt in their diets, and they know that � besides adding delicious flavor -- herbs and spices have so many health benefits.�

�Our Engage Organics family team is committed to giving our customers a shortcut to healthy eating by taking the guesswork out of seasoning. Our mission is to finish what we started in 1980: to make Engage Organics seasoning blends the flavorful go-to alternative to salt.�