Olives and Turkey

Olives are an integral part of Turkish breakfast, served alongside white cheese or feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, and sometimes rocket or parsley leaves.

Turkey is predicted to experience an abundant harvest of table olives and olive oil this year. Furthermore, the country boasts many impressive museums devoted to olive oil production and consumption.

Early Life and Education

At Thanksgiving, olives may only come to mind as an accompaniment for turkey, gravy, cranberries and stuffing. However, this delicious vegetable has a much longer and fascinating history that may surprise many of us! Using both science and anecdotes as sources for her research on olives, Chemistry professor Patricia O’Hara has unearthed new stories surrounding this humble fruit.

Ancient Greeks and Romans first started cultivating olive trees (Olea europaea), using its oil for medicinal and culinary uses as well as fuel in oil lamps. Over time, olive oil has become one of the world’s most beloved oils; today families and factories around Turkey celebrate harvest time with great joy when families harvest olives at harvesting centers, making for an unforgettable travel experience!

Professional Career

Olive oil production in Turkey is one of its key industries and one of its primary agricultural products, producing high-grade table olives and extra virgin olive oil, reflecting both their respective soil qualities and production facilities.

Olives cultivated in different regions have distinct characteristics. Olives from Northern regions tend to be fruitier and darker in hue, while those grown in Southern regions typically exhibit lighter fruit notes and lighter hues.

Artem Oliva, one of Turkey’s premier black sliced olive manufacturers, provides its products in glass jars and tins, and exports them around the globe.

Achievement and Honors

Villagers and families in Afrin district of western Turkey who harvest olives face an uphill struggle between nature and an open-pit mine for resources that threaten forests and ecosystems. It is time for Europe to recognize their sacrifice.

Gross and FOODMatch have jointly initiated Olives Day on June 1, to honor these iconic fruits that are in peak season right now in Turkey, with winter’s harvest having been cured since last winter. Now is an excellent opportunity to sample these versatile olives as there are endless combinations and ways they can be prepared and enjoyed!

Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms achieved another landmark at this year’s Anatolian IOOC international competition in Adramyttion (Edremit). With 12 awards won, their total international accolades now stand at 301 – an unprecedented total for any Greek olive producer!

Personal Life

Olive trees have long been revered in many cultures as symbols of peace, particularly within Islam. Olive trees are revered in Muslim societies where they are revered as “Olive of Paradise”. Olive oil was often used by people living during ancient Greek and Roman empires to massage themselves down, cleanse their clothes, lubricate tools in the kitchen or wrestlers before competitions started.

Different varieties of olives and oils possess distinctive traits determined by the region in which they were grown, which includes their aroma, density, fruity taste and production method; olives from northern regions often boast aromatic notes with dense flavors while those grown in southern regions tend to have fruitier tastes and higher acidity levels. Early harvest olive oil made from unripened, unmature (green) olives tends to have more peppery and bitter notes compared with its counterparts and therefore tends to cost more.

Net Worth

Olives are one of the world’s most valuable crops, revered for their nutritional profile which boasts benefits that include improving heart health, reducing inflammation and protecting against cancer.

The United States is a net importer of prepared and preserved olives, with top suppliers being Spain, Italy and Greece.

The government contends that Turkish-backed FSA militants are plundering Syria’s olive crops in Afrin, northwestern Syria and exporting them for profit to other countries – purportedly using this revenue to cover expenses of FSA members. Opposition activists dispute this claim.