04 Jan

Olive-press owners allege lack of government support

By Maher Zeineddine, As olive presses in the mountainous Chouf region witness excessive activity with the fruit’s harvest season coming to an end and weather conditions getting worse, press owners are criticizing the government’s failure to set up marketing plans for their products. Every year from early November until late January, farmers throughout Lebanon engage […]

30 Dec

Oil of Life

Everybody knows that a Mediterranean diet is good for your health, and many equate this benefit with the heavy use of olive oil. But what hard scientific evidence supports this widespread belief? (Diet books don’t count.) In the current issue of Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, University of Athens professor Antonia Trichopoulou, a medical doctor […]

17 Dec

Santo Stefano inaugurates an ecological olives’ press

How can olives produce “green” electric power?? Lucchi and Guastalli, an olive oil producing firm of Santo Stefano di Magra, in Liguria’s eastern province has recently inaugurated a new kind of olive-pressing machine, which could herald a real technological revolution in the arch-shaped Italian region, noted to be the major olive-producer of Northern Italy. The […]

17 Dec

Psoriasis patients respond to olive oil supplement

By Dr. Patrick Massey, From martinis to salads, the olive has traveled from the Middle East and gradually found its way into the American diet. Incorporating olives and olive oil into the diet can reduce the risk of a number of medical conditions, including heart disease and cancer. Recent medical research suggests that olive oil […]

16 Dec

Forgotten for more than a century, French olive oil back on top

Maussane les Alpilles, France — Thirty-five years ago olive-grower Raymond Gonfond pondered giving up on his olive trees — because olive oil was not selling. Now the whole world is enamoured of this green gold, which underpins the famed ‘Mediterranean diet’ … and olive-growers are prospering. “When I was starting out, olive oil had a […]