Not far from one of Athens’ busiest highways, passing motorists stop and stare at the rural agricultural scene playing out before them on the streets of Glyfada. There are nets spread on the ground, workers are plucking olives near the bus stop. With hundreds of olive trees lining its streets, the seaside suburb came up with the idea of harvesting their olives to make oil for its poor citizens a decade ago.
Many other Athens suburbs have since followed suit. The western port of Patras does the same, and Greece’s second city, Thessaloniki, joined them this year. “In addition to protecting the valuable fruits from being lost… it nourishes the olive trees and also protects pedestrians from accidents on slippery sidewalks,” the Athens municipality of Elimos said earlier this month, asking volunteers to pick olives. Had said while appealing for help.
A staple of the Mediterranean diet for centuries, a one-litre bottle of olive oil now costs between nine and 18 euros ($9.50-19) on supermarket shelves in Greece. But the Glyfada olive harvest, which is estimated to be about a tonne of olives this year, is being given away for free.
‘good oil’
“It’s good oil… the whole of Greece makes good olive oil,” said Stavros Giakomakis, the council’s deputy mayor for greenery, who has been overseeing the project since 2014. “Our land is a land of abundance, boys. Everything we plant takes root,” said the 70-year-old, who also makes oil from his own olive trees on his native island of Crete. “If every municipality did the same, vulnerable families would have enough olive oil for a year,” he said.
Local resident Eleni Papachristopoulou, who moved to the area in the 1970s, said the trees on her street were planted 50 years ago. “For years the olives would lie on the ground and no one would pick them up,” he said. According to EU data, along with Spain and Italy, Greece is a major EU olive oil producer and has the highest per capita annual consumption at about 12 kg per capita. Glyphada’s street oil tastes pungent and stings the throat – both signs of purity.
concern about pollution
But health experts caution that produce grown in urban areas should be tested for harmful chemicals. The Scientific Society of Olive Encyclopedists (4E), a private group of experts, warned this month that “olive oil that comes from roads with increased traffic… is loaded with pollutants that can form dangerous chemicals in high concentrations.” Does.”
Of particular concern are mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAHs), which can enter through environmental pollution, according to the European Food Safety Authority, and can damage DNA and cause cancer. “Olive trees in areas where the atmosphere is polluted by exhaust gases may have increased MOAH content in their fruits, and as a result olive oil,” said 4E member Constantinos Demopoulos, professor emeritus of biochemistry and food chemistry at the University of Athens. Me too.” ,
“Unlabeled olive oil sold under the counter may not have the required composition, not necessarily out of malice but out of ignorance. I would not consume olive oil that has not been analyzed,” he told AFP. Even if it comes from a friend.” , 4E warned that local councils “appear to be unaware” of the risks, and inspection of street olive oil usually focuses on acidity and other characteristics.
It added that additional tests to detect the presence of fossil fuel hydrocarbons require more “specialized” laboratories and cost more. At the State Chemical Laboratory of Greece, which is the country’s foremost authority, the acidity test costs 20 euros. The cost of the aromatic hydrocarbon test is between 150 and 180 euros. Papachristopoulou said he was well aware of the pollution debate. “We are very concerned. But people eat (olives) – soon they will have no other options,” he said.
