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In the fashion business, there are companies that sell rank counterfeits as “Made in Italy.” Appparently in olive oil too: 8000 tons were recently seized from the Azienda Olearia Valpesana, an important bulk olive oil business.
At a time of increasing settler violence in the West Bank, the International Solidarity Movement is issuing an urgent call for volunteers to participate in the 2012 Olive Harvest Campaign at the invitation of Palestinian communities. The olive tree is a national symbol for Palestinians. As thousands of olive trees have been bulldozed, uprooted and burned by Israeli settlers and the military – over half a million olive and fruit trees have been destroyed since September 2000 – harvesting has become more than a source of livelihood; it has become a form of resistance.
During a recent debate in the Greek parliament the deputy Minister of Agriculture was challenged about olive oil by a member. He replied: “Producers can and should create groups in order to have more power while negotiating in the markets and achieve better prices for their products. For this, standardisation is of utmost importance since it gives added value to the product”. He added: “The ministry considers olive oil a national product of high nutritional value, extra quality and of great economic value for the country…that’s why we support it with actions.” It is more than clear that the Greek state still has no clear and defined strategy about promoting olive oil.
In the foothills of Sierra Nevada Natural Park in Andalucia a rather special olive oil has recently gone into production. Benizalte organic extra-virgin olive oil, now being distributed in the UK exclusively by Alma Organics, has been created by a group of determined small-holders passionate about their craft and keen to find a new way of producing a high-quality oil while preserving centuries’ old methods of cultivation, and offering a fair price to the farmers concerned. The oil is being processed via cold extraction in the small organic mill of La Flor de Alpujarra in the market town of Orgiva, Granada. What makes this venture so unusual is that the farmers themselves own the mill as a co-operative.
A few months ago at a bank auction of a confiscated luxury villa on the island of Mykonos no one was interested in acquiring it. On the contrary, at a similar bank auction of an olive grove of 125 acres in Messinia, southern Greece, there were no less than eight bids. Maybe this is only a coincidence, but then again it can mean that things are changing and people are thinking rationally again.
Visits to the Museum of Olive Culture in Jaén were part of a recent program for disadvantaged children. The children participated in various olive oil education activities, including one known as “Know our olive grove,” which included a breakfast of typical products from the region, a guided museum tour and an initiation to olive oil tasting. The aim of the project was to provide education surrounding the healthy food to those who may not otherwise have the opportunity to learn about its benefits, history and the importance of the product to the region.
The law firm that lobbies congress for Google, American Express and Dow Chemical has added another client; a group called the Alliance for Olive Oil Quality Standards. The new group is made up of olive oil importers who oppose a move by California olive oil producers to pass a federal marketing order and impose stricter guidelines on imported olive oils. The importers hope, as one put it, “to create a quiet groundswell against this effort by the domestic industry.”
Let’s forget, for the moment, whether it’s a good idea to require foods that have been genetically engineered to show that on the labeling, as Proposition 37 on the November (US) ballot would do. There’s a curious provision in the initiative that’s causing more immediate concern. The wording has to do with when foods can be labeled “natural” and … it wouldn’t be utterly crazy to read the wording as saying that processed foods — whether they contain genetically engineered ingredients or not — could not be labeled as natural. One example opponents of the measure bring up is olive oil.
High demand for environmentally friendly goods is providing the food industry with growing opportunities to create a new and unique supply chain system that offers advantages for everybody, according to new research.
A group of five men were arrested for allegedly cutting down 115 olive trees in the Koura village of Harisha, (Lebanon) which they planned to sell as wood. The village’s custodian, Aziz Alawa, first noticed from a hill in Anefh village that trees in an olive grove had been cut down. He informed the owners of the grove and the police, who launched a stakeout for the criminals in mid-August. On Monday, police saw the group coming back to finish what they had begun.