Olive Oil’s Connection to the Olympics

The olive tree has had a deep-rooted connection to the Olympic Games since their inception in ancient Greece. The tree symbolized peace, unity, and excellence, aligning with the values celebrated during the Games, which honored the Greek god Zeus. Athletes in the ancient Olympics did not compete for gold medals but were instead awarded a crown made from olive branches, symbolizing victory and honor. These crowns came from the sacred olive trees of Olympia, further emphasizing the cultural and religious significance of the tree.

In addition to the physical rewards, victors also gained social prestige and valuable gifts, such as amphoras filled with olive oil. Olive oil was not only a symbol of wealth and status but also served practical purposes in the athletes’ training and rituals, such as oiling their bodies before competitions. This connection between olive trees, the sacred Games, and the pursuit of personal glory reflects the broader cultural importance of the olive tree in Greek society.

The Olympic Games were also a time of truce among the often-warring Greek city-states. The Games fostered unity and cultural exchange, with olive branches and oil symbolizing peace and the shared values of the Greek world. This practice of awarding olive crowns to athletes persisted until the Games faded out, yet the olive tree continues to be a symbol of endurance and excellence, both in modern Olympic traditions and broader Mediterranean culture.

For more information on olive oil’s connection to the Olympics, visit this article.

The problem of adulterated oils extends beyond olive oil. UC Davis recently completed a study that found 82% of commercially sold avocado oil was adulterated, mislabeled, or poor quality. Every oil sampled had at least some adulteration. The researchers were stunned at the high number of poor quality oils being sold as avocado oil. Three oils were almost 100% soybean oil. One of the reasons for those poor results is that no official standards or regulations exist for avocado oil. That’s why we are grateful to have the California Olive Oil Council certify our Apollo oils, and why it is important when purchasing olive oil, to look for the COOC seal.

The producers of real avocado oil have the same problem as producers of real extra virgin olive oil – It isn’t possible to compete with large companies that can manipulate their oils. The problem is larger in the US where quality, origin, and being true to label is not valued as much as it is in Europe. The producers of real avocado oil are now working to establish international standards like those that exist for extra virgin olive oil that insure consumers actually receive what is on the label.

The Surprise Journey Of Learning About Our Food Supply

The recent outbreak of salmonella poisoning causing 500 million eggs to be recalled have people wondering about our food supply. There are two excellent resources that reveal the truth about why these outbreaks occur. They are the movie, Food Inc., and the book, Animal Factory. These two resources document the harmful affect of modern practices in two key areas, cost and safety. While many are vaguely aware of the dangers of factory farming few know the real details that cause nationwide problems.

Cost

Most people know the corn industry in the US is subsidized but don’t know what that means. The subsidies actually allow the industry to sell corn for less than the price of production and still make a profit. Because corn is used in one form or another in almost all fast foods, processed foods, and feed for animals it allows those industries to go to market at a greatly reduced price. Also the large factory farms receive the lion’s share of subsidies because the subsidies are based on production and not need. This creates the illusion that locally grown organic produce from small farms is expensive, where as the truth is that in the latter case the price is based on having to cover actual costs not subsidized costs.

Safety

Factory farms require very large capital investments to buy the machinery to process large quantities of animals in a small space. This requires animals to live in their own filth. This not only encourages the outbreak of disease and it also encourages the disease to spread very quickly because the animals are packed so closely together. To lessen this tendency factory farms feed the animals massive amounts of antibiotics. This in turn creates resistant strains of bacteria that enter into the general population. In contrast, small farms cannot afford the initial capital investment to allow this kind of farming. It is actually less expensive for the small farmer to use grass fed free range farming techniques thus eliminating all the causes of disease the large factory farms are subject to. The end product is more expensive but again it is because real costs must be covered not subsidized costs.

Small is Beautiful

In 1910 English philosopher, G.K. Chesterton, coined the phrase ‘small is beautiful.’ A popular phrase in the 1960’s was ‘the solution to pollution is dilution.’ We recognize that over concentration is harmful in many aspects of life. In industry it leads to monopolies. We are all told to diversify our portfolio to protect our savings. The list goes on and on but we aren’t told to diversify our food supply. Why don’t the same principles apply? Diversity is practically synonymous with health. A collection of small farms has diversity built into its DNA. It may be more expensive but it is because we are paying for healthier, tastier food and healthier farm land that will be here for generations. Educating ourselves about our food supply might just save our lives.

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