MEET THE OLIVE TREE

The olive tree is an evergreen, perennial fruit tree and belongs to the family of
oil trees. The warm Mediterranean sun, and the sweet, mild winter- with slow
and regular rainfall- favor the growth and fruiting of the olive trees. The olive
tree has a long life and maintains its productivity for centuries. In Greece,
there are olive trees at least 1,000 years old. In the first six years of its life,
the olive tree does not produce any olives.

The Olive Tree

Greece is full of olive groves. The olive trees, the " child feeding olive tree" according to Sophocles, is the protagonist of Greek nature and history, as olive oil is the protagonist of Greek cuisine.
It first appeared in eastern Mediterranean but it was in Greece where it was first cultivated. Since then, from ancient times until today, the presence of olives in the Greek region has been uninterrupted and closely connected with the traditions and culture of the people.
Olive, as evidenced by the fossilized olive trees in volcanic rocks of Santorini which are 50,000 to 60,000 years old, has always been part of the country. The systematic cultivation started in prehistoric times, in the Iron and Stone Age.
 
Apart from economic benefits, the olive tree was worshiped as sacred and its oil, besides being offered to the gods and the dead, was also used in the manufacture of perfumes, in medicine and everyday life as a basic product for feeding, lighting and heating.

The olive tree had a central role in the life of Athens. According to tradition, the famous fight between Poseidon and Pallas Athena on who will give their name to the city, Athena won and she offered the city an olive tree, symbol of peace, progress and power. The city showed its gratitude by giving the name of the goddess to the city. Indicative of the importance of olive trees in Athens is that the Athenians represented Athena with an olive wreath on her helmet along with an amphorae with olive oil or an olive branch. The gold statue of Zeus at Olympia ( the work of Phidias, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) was crowned with olive branches.
Olive oil had a direct connection with sports activities. Athletes in ancient games had the habit of smearing their bodies with oil before exercising in the gymnasium to maintain the elasticity of their muscles. The prize for the Olympic Games was a wreath of wild olive called kotinos. There were also many therapeutic uses of oil, and the Hippocrates code of medicine indicates approximately 60 medical uses of olives for curing diseases and ailments.

The olive tree (sacred, precious and loved) has marked Greek culture.

Information about Olives and Greece

• The average life expectancy of an olive tree is 300-600 years.
  
  
• The method of cultivation and utilization of olives today is not very different from the one used in ancient times.
  
  
• The Mediterranean region covers 99% of global oil production.
  
  
• Greece, although a small country in size, occupies the third position worldwide in oil production, after Spain and Italy.

•  In Greece today there are about 120,000,000 trees (for a population of approximately 10,000,000) covering an area of ​approximately 6 million acres. Approximately 450,000 Greek families are engaged in cultivation and processing of olives in all regions of the country.

• Greece is the largest exporter of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and it is considered the best quality oil in the world.

•  Today, Greeks are the largest consumers of oil than any other people and per capita consumption is around 16 kg per year. In Crete, consumption amounts to 30 kilos annually per person. Scientific studies have shown that the Cretan diet is the healthiest in the world.

•  Organic olive cultivation in Greece began about 10 years ago in Mani. Nowadays, it reaches an estimated 15,000 acres and is expected to exceed 35,000 within the next few years.

Olive and olive oil in the modern era.                        

Although it was commonplace in the 20th century Greece to adopt to western standards in clothing, culture and nutrition, it is remarkable that olive oil did not follow this trend but it is the only product that was eventually imposed in the rest of Europe.
The trend of the Mediterranean diet started in the past decades and is still spreading globally every year.
As shown by statistics, the consumption of olive oil in Europe and worldwide has been growing steadily.
Populations of countries who traditionally consumed animal fat, in recent years have recognized the value of olive oil and are changing their eating habits.