Olive harvest unaffected by snow in Spain
Snow falling across Spain has not harmed the olive crop in the world’s largest producer or significantly slowed the ongoing harvest, a farm union said.
Spanish television has broadcast pictures in recent days of snowbound olive pickers in southern region Andalucia, which accounts for most of Spain’s olive oil output and by itself far surpasses any other country.
Much of Spain’s olive oil, a quintessential part of the Mediterranean diet since ancient times, is bottled and reexported from Italy.
Quiliano Jaraiz, spokesman for the influential ASAJA union in Andalucia, said snow and frost did not harm olives, unlike other fruits.
“The harvest is going well. There is snow in some mountain ranges, but those are isolated cases,” he said.
Posted in Ecology | Environment, Europe | U.K, Olive Oil, Olive Tree by: Olives101
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Economic Downturn Effect Patient Health and Diets
Over 56% of American Dietetic Association members surveyed report that they are concerned that the current economic downturn will have a negative effect on their patients’ ability to maintain or achieve a healthy weight, according to a survey conducted by the California Olive Committee.
Almost three-quarters (72.2%) of the registered dieticians and nutritionists expressed concern that the economic downturn would create financial obstacles to their patients’ ability to purchase or afford healthy foods; while over 66% indicated concern that the economy would create emotional distractions to their patients’ abilities to maintain their prescribed diets or programs.
A majority of the dieticians also indicated that the economy is creating differences in their own lives, with almost 60% indicating they had personally made modifications in their own grocery purchases.
The Internet based survey was answered by 492 American Dietetic Association members during the week prior to the annual Food & Nutrition Conference, which took place October 25-28. It was conducted by the California Olive Committee, which represents the growers and canners of California Black Ripe Olives.
The full survey and all stats and charts can be viewed here
Posted in California, Health, Olive Oil by: Olives101
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Croatia’s olive oil producers fight quantity with quality
Croatian olive farmer Sandi Chiavalon has high hopes of taking on the might and quantity of Greece, Italy and Spain with the quality of oil from his groves.
The three European giants may account for more than three-quarters of global olive oil production, but Chiavalon is one of many young Croatian entrepreneurs readying their produce for a niche in the EU market.
“We will only have a future if we produce top quality (olive oil),” says the 25-year-old, who started olive-growing as a hobby with some 30 trees but whose oil now ranks among the world’s top 15, according to industry bible L’Extravergine.
“Our target should be a superior oil that the market is lacking and people are ready to pay for.
“We are too small to fight with quantities,” says Chiavalon while sitting in an ultra-modern oil taste-testing room set up for tourists opposite his house in Vodnjan, a tiny town in the northwestern peninsula of Istria.
Despite a tradition dating back to Roman times, neglect and changes linked to the economy and demographics saw Croatian olive-growing decline after World War II, when its Adriatic coast had some 40 million trees compared with today’s six million.
Posted in East | Central Europe, Europe | U.K, Olive Oil, Olive Tree by: Olives101
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Italy toasts its love for life, with the best of olive oil
By Rasheeda Bhagat,
It is with a lot of passion and zeal that most Italians speak about their cuisine and even wine. This borders on veneration when it comes to major producers of olive oil in Italy, as a group of 12 international journalists discovered during a recent olive oil trip to the Puglia and Umbria belt of the country organised by the International Olive Council (IOC).
The world’s second-largest producer of olive oil after Spain, Italy’s annual production is around 600,000 tonnes. In any olive oil industry, the pride of place of course goes to extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and Italian producers will proudly tell you that Italy contributes about 20 per cent of the world’s EVOO. It cultivates olives on nearly 1.3 million hectares, including the small farms where olive oil is produced only for personal consumption.
In a country which has 230 million olive trees — of which 60 million are in the Puglia region — you can expect to hear many a passionate tale about the importance of the olive tree, its history, and how it is “like some of our ancient sculptures”.
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Posted in Europe | U.K, Event-Festival, Olive Oil by: Olives101
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The difficulty in finding the finest olive oil
By Alex Renton,
Oil pressed from the first green olives is a taste like no other. But fraud means that finding a good one is hard.
The green of the olive oil is shocking: like Night Nurse. Or Swarfega. You wouldn’t put it in your mouth if it wasn’t so reassuringly expensive. With reverence, we poured it into white china saucers and offered it round to the supper guests with warm flatbread.
Tasting the oil was a show in three acts: the first, smooth and scented; then a trumpet blast of green pepperiness and a long, redolent finale that brought out the guests’ fancy adjectives: “almondy”, “citric”, even “raw caulifloweresque”. The words I used were “acidic” and “scary”.
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Posted in Europe | U.K, Olive Oil by: Olives101
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