Imagine finding a 1,600-year-old farm that’s still telling stories about how people grew their food, shared resources, and lived with the land. That’s exactly what happened in Kafr Qasim, central Israel, where archaeologists uncovered a huge agricultural estate belonging to the Samaritans—an ancient community related to the Jewish people, who followed the Torah but had their own traditions and worship sites.

Today, the Samaritans are a small group of a few hundred people living in Israel and the West Bank. But 1,500 years ago, they were a thriving community spread across the region. This discovery is exciting not just for history buffs—it also offers clues about how ancient farmers worked with nature, ideas we can still use for sustainable farming today.

The excavation, carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and funded by the Israel Ministry of Construction and Housing, revealed buildings decorated with colorful mosaics, an olive oil press, and even a public ritual bath known as a miqveh. The site is within Khirbet Kafr Ḥatta, a settlement that existed from the 4th to 7th centuries CE—spanning the end of the Roman Empire into the Byzantine period.

One of the most stunning finds was a large mosaic floor filled with patterns and pictures of plants and foods grown in the area—grapes, dates, watermelons, artichokes, and asparagus. At the entrance, a Greek inscription wished the homeowner “Good Luck!” It’s a personal touch that makes the past feel very close, like the people who lived there could walk back in at any moment.

Food, Faith, and Clean Production

North of the main house, archaeologists found a big olive press, a warehouse, and the miqveh. This layout suggests the Samaritans pressed their olives into oil while keeping the process religiously pure. The olive press had two wings—one for crushing and pressing, and another for storage and support rooms. This type of press was more common in Jerusalem and the Judean lowlands, meaning the Samaritans may have been borrowing ideas and technology from other regions.

Olive oil wasn’t just for cooking—it was used for lighting lamps, in medicine, and in religious rituals. Producing it locally, and with care for purity, meant the community could meet its needs without over-relying on outside trade. It’s a reminder that local, sustainable food systems are not a new idea—they’ve been around for thousands of years.

Over the years, the estate changed. Some of the fancy mosaic floors were damaged when new walls were built. Columns and capitals from older buildings were reused in new structures. The archaeologists think these changes may be linked to political unrest—specifically, Samaritan revolts against Byzantine rulers in the 5th and 6th centuries CE, when restrictive laws targeted religious minorities.

What’s remarkable is that, unlike other Samaritan sites destroyed in these uprisings, the Kafr Qasim estate survived and kept its Samaritan identity. Excavators even found ceramic oil lamps with Samaritan symbols, showing that the people stayed connected to their heritage despite outside pressures. That kind of resilience is something we still need in the face of modern challenges like climate change and food security.

Why It Matters for Sustainability

This site isn’t just about pretty mosaics or ancient artifacts—it’s about how people lived in balance with their environment. The Samaritans grew their own food, processed it locally, reused building materials, and built infrastructure to last generations. These are all practices that fit into modern ideas like the circular economy and permaculture.

By studying ancient estates like this, we can see what worked for communities over centuries—and what led to their decline. It’s a chance to learn from both the successes and mistakes of the past, whether it’s about farming techniques, water management, or adapting to political change.

According to Israel’s Minister of Heritage, Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, the find tells “another chapter in the shared story of the Jews and the Samaritans… communities that lived by the Torah, shared common roots, and experienced similar hardships.” For archaeologists, it’s a chance to piece together centuries of history; for the rest of us, it’s a reminder that sustainability isn’t just a modern buzzword—it’s a way of life humans have practiced, and sometimes forgotten, for millennia.

The post 1,600-Year-Old Samaritan Farm Estate Found in Kafr Qasim Shows How Ancient Communities Lived Sustainably appeared first on Green Prophet.

Swapping out animal fats for plant fats might be a helpful dietary intervention for obese patients undergoing treatment for cancer

A new study published in Nature Metabolism suggests that the type of fat we consume—not just how much we weigh—can influence cancer risk. In the study, researchers from Ludwig Cancer Research, Harvard Medical School, and Trinity College Dublin found that obese mice fed diets rich in animal fats like butter, lard, or beef tallow developed faster-growing melanomas than equally obese mice fed plant-based fats like olive oil, palm oil, or coconut oil.

The difference wasn’t weight, but biology. “Our study provides an important proof of principle that dietary fat can regulate immune function in obesity-related cancers,” write the researchers.

“We found that high-fat diets derived from lard, beef tallow or butter compromise anti-tumor immunity and accelerate tumor growth in several tumor models of obese mice. Diets based on coconut oil, palm oil or olive oil, meanwhile, do not have this effect in equally obese mice. Our findings have implications for cancer prevention and care for people struggling with obesity,” said Lydia Lynch, a leader in the research.

Lynch and her colleagues from Harvard—including Marcia Haigis, a senior author of the study and a member of the Ludwig Center at Harvard University—note that swapping out animal fats for plant fats might be a helpful dietary intervention for obese patients undergoing treatment for cancer. Such dietary changes could also potentially lower cancer risk for people living with obesity.

The Science: It’s About Acylcarnitines, Not Calories

The researchers discovered that animal-based fats caused a buildup of long-chain acylcarnitines—molecules that impaired CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, both critical for detecting and killing cancer cells. These metabolites interfered with mitochondrial function, reducing the immune system’s ability to fight tumors.

By contrast, mice consuming olive oil, palm oil, or coconut oil did not experience this immune suppression—even though they gained the same amount of weight.

According to Lydia Lynch, senior author of the study and an immunologist at Harvard and Trinity,

“It’s not just obesity—it’s what kind of fat you eat. We show that some fats can paralyze the immune system’s anti-cancer response.”

These findings were also observed in human NK cells, where acylcarnitine buildup similarly impaired mitochondrial function, indicating the mechanism may be relevant to humans, though more research is needed.

What About the Butter Backlash?

This new study may challenge recent nutrition trends—particularly those backed by figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who advocate for a return to traditional, animal-fat-heavy diets and question the safety of seed oils. While Kennedy and others have popularized the idea that saturated fats like butter are unfairly vilified, this research suggests animal fats could pose specific risks to cancer immunity, especially in the context of obesity.

It’s important to note, however, that the study did not examine seed oils like soybean, canola, or sunflower, which are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and the subject of their own scientific debates.

In short, this study is not a vindication of seed oils, but it does raise red flags about animal fats—at least in obese contexts and in mice.

Not All Saturated Fats Are the Same

Interestingly, the study showed that palm oil (also saturated) did not have the same cancer-promoting effects as butter or lard. This challenges simplistic categorizations of “saturated = bad” and points to a more nuanced relationship between fat structure, metabolism, and immune function.

It also underscores that obesity-related cancer risk may depend as much on what type of fat is stored and metabolized as on the amount of body fat itself.

The post Butter, Beef Tallow and Cancer Risk? New Study Finds Animal Fats May Accelerate Tumor Growth in Mice appeared first on Green Prophet.

The earliest evidence found to date concerning the production of olives for eating, dating back some 6,600 years, has been found at the submerged chalcolithic site Hishulei Carmel, off the coast at Haifa, Israel. The world’s oldest olive trees were found nearby in Lebanon.

The discovery is described in a new study published in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports by researchers from the University of Haifa, the Technion, Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University, the Volcani Institute, and other research institutions in Israel and abroad. This discovery predates by around 4,000 years the oldest evidence of the production of olives for eating uncovered until now.

“This latest discovery completes the chain of use of olive trees, beginning with use of the wood for burning, through the production of oil some 7,000 years ago, and on to our finding, where the fruit was used for consumption,” explains Dr. Ehud Galili of the Zinman Institute of Archeology at the University of Haifa, who led the research.

What makes olives a fruit

Olives are, indeed, small fruits that grow on olive trees (Olea europaea). They belong to a group of fruit called drupes, or stone fruits, and olives are related to mangoes, cherries, peaches, almonds, and pistachios.

Olives are very high in vitamin E and other powerful antioxidants. Olives are a key component of the human diet, culinary culture, and economy of the Mediterranean region. Archeological findings and written testimony shows that olive oil was used extensively for consumption, lighting, worship, hygiene, and cosmetic purposes in ancient times. However, the date when olives began to be eaten has remained a mystery.

“Historical documents attribute the first consumption of eating olives in Europe to the middle of the first millennium BCE, and in Egypt to the classical period following the conquest of Alexander the Great, so that all the evidence until now centered on the middle of the first millennium BCE,” notes Dr. Liora Kolska Horwitz of the Hebrew University.

The current study was undertaken at the Hishulei Carmel site (named after a nearby factory), which is situated approximately 500 meters south of the southernmost beaches of Haifa. The site dates back to the Middle Chalcolithic period, some 6,600 years ago. Remnants from this period are now found from the shoreline and to a distance of 120 meters, and at a depth of up to four meters under the sea.

It is believed that in this period the sea level was around three to four meters lower than today, and the coast was some 200-300 meters west of its current location, so that the site was situated on the coast in its day. No remains of residential homes have been found at the site, but the excavations have uncovered round utensils with a diameter of 1.5 meters, made from collected stones.

According to the researchers, these utensils were used as wells or storage pits. During the underwater surveys, the researchers found two oval stone structures containing thousands of saturated olive pits, most of them complete and excellently preserved. In order to identify the use made of the olives, research was undertaken by a multidisciplinary team of archeologists and botanists from 11 research institutions in Israel and abroad.

“As soon as we found the olive pits, we could see that they were different to those used to produce olive oil. In debris from oil production, the pits are mostly crushed, whereas most of the ones were found were whole,” explains Dr. Dafna Langgut of Tel Aviv University. The researchers compared the findings to pits and utensils found by Dr. Galil several years ago at another underwater site – Kfar Samir, off the coast by Dado Beach. Kfar Samir is an older site, dating back 7,000 – 7,500 years, and situated some 1,800 meters from Hishulei Carmel.

The utensils found at Kfar Samir contained crushed olive pits, as well as olive peel, and were identified as debris from the production of olive oil. As noted, the pits found at the Hishulei Carmel site were mostly whole, and no peel or other evidence was found suggesting the production of oil. Moreover, in the remnants of the pits at Kfar Samir the researchers found grains of olive pollen, which is also found today in debris at olive presses. This pollen was not found in the utensils uncovered at the Hishulei Carmel site.

Another factor supporting the assertion that the utensils were intended for the production of olives for eating is the proximity of the sire to the sea. As noted, at the time the site was on the coastline. A coastal location does not permit the storage of olives, due to high humidity which leads to the rapid development of mold.

The researchers believe, it is not logical to suggest that the facilities were used for the storage of fresh olives. Conversely, the coastal location could have provided access to vital ingredients used in the pickling of olives, such as seawater and sea salt. As part of their study, the researchers undertook a controlled examination in a food laboratory at the Technion and managed to cure olives using seawater. “The pickling of olives in the utensils discovered could have taken place after the fruit was washed repeatedly in seawater in order to reduce the bitterness, and then soaked in seawater, possibly with the addition of sea salt,” suggests Prof. Ayala Fishman of the Technion.

“The lack of olive pollen grains in the utensils, which are usually found in olive debris, supports the hypothesis that the olives were washed repeatedly, as is customary to this day when pickling lives,” adds Prof. Mina Weinstein-Evron of the University of Haifa. Wild olives from Mt. Carmel, and possibly olives grown in ancient groves, probably provided the raw material for the production of olive oil and olives for eating,” comment botanists Dr. Simcha Lev-Yadon, Dr. Oz Barazani, and Dr. Arnon Dag.

“We did not find any residential buildings at the Hishulei Carmel site or at Kfar Samir, but we found pits, round utensils, stone grinding basins, sieves made of twigs – and now the olive production facilities. These sites may have served as ancient “industrial zones” for the settlements along the Carmel Coast in the Chalcolithic period, beginning to produce olive oil around 7,000 years ago and olives for eating 6,600 years ago,” concludes Dr. Galili.

The post Are olives a fruit? The history of olives and olive oil appeared first on Green Prophet.

Subtitled ‘Building Economic Cooperation Among Palestinians and Israelis’, the project began in 2005 to encourage Israeli and Palestinian farmers to share technical experiences about olive cultivation, oil production and quality control.  It’s a multiyear initiative to foster cross-border, grassroots economic cooperation and build relationships based on mutual trust, understanding, and shared financial interest among Palestinians and Israelis in the olive oil industry.

Can a micro-scale farming project reverse decades of tribal conflict?

“There is no real border between Israel and Palestine,” Muhammad Hamudi, an olive farmer and oil producer from Asira al-Shamaliya, near the West Bank city of Nablus, told online magazine GOOD.  He has worked with OOWB since its start in 2011.  “Today the border is here, tomorrow it will be there. The olive oil market has no borders as well. The bridge to the global market is the same bridge for everyone.”

Supported by the NGO Near East Foundation (NEF),  the project earned a second round of funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in the amount of $1.2 million, which will benefit 3,000 Palestinians and Israelis working in the business over the next three years.  Additional donors include Human Concern International, the United Nations Development Program, and the World Food Program.

Olive oil production and trade have underpinned rural economies in Palestine and Israel for generations; olive trees are woven into the fabric of these societies, with meaning far beyond economic value. Through industry cooperation, OOWB seeks to grow tolerance, indeed friendship, and mutual monetary benefits for the sector.

NEF President Charlie Benjamin told GOOD that the organization approaches its work from “a completely depoliticized perspective.” The focus is on “building economic relationships. We don’t touch the broader issues.” But he does acknowledge that when people collaborate by choice, they grow trust, improve communication, and enhance interaction beyond the limits of the agricultural program.

Ayala Noy, an oil producer from Moshav Zippori in Israel, north of Nazareth, told reporter Assaf Dudai, “It was a very important and empowering experience. Sitting down with a Palestinian farmer who tells me, with tears in his eyes, that his orchard was burned to the ground the previous night by Israeli settlers was very emotional for me. ‘How do you sleep at night?’ he asked me. I told him not very well. That was the biggest challenge for me—being a representative of Israel, dealing with the hard feelings they have toward us.”

“We brought Palestinians to our house, we showed them our mill, and we try to keep in touch by phone,” she added. “I think it gave them a chance to see ‘other’ Israelis. Many of them told me that was their first time to meet an Israeli who is not a soldier, or a settler.”

The feelings are mutual. Sumaya Sawalmeh, another farmer from Asira al-Shamaliya, said, “It was important for me to take part in the project. I came into Israel [and] for the first time in my life…left with positive feelings.” Adel Yaseen, an elderly farmer from the nearby village of Jnaid, agreed, “I made friends from Israel. The project helped us to build relationships and brought us closer.”

The project has improved olive oil production, harvesting and post-harvesting operations. Participants have also been helped in their approach to marketing, all of which has had a positive impact on the economy of 34 olive oil farming communities in Israel and West Bank. Entire families and villages in both Palestine and Israel live off the yearly cycle of the olive trees. NEF estimates that 100,000 Palestinian families work in the olive oil sector, which accounts for more than 10 percent of the state’s GDP.

“This is exactly what should be going on in the region right now—everyone coming together,” Dave Harden, USAID mission director in the Palestinian Authority, told Dudai at an OOWB farmers gathering at an orchard near Nazareth. “They are building stuff together, they’re producing higher quality products, and they’re selling them. What more can you ask for?”

Palestinian farmers have exported 3,600 metric tons of olive oil into Israel since 2013, representing $20 million in new income. Benjamin concluded, “Seventy percent of OOWB participants say they believe economic cooperation helps build additional efforts at reconciliation between the two sides.”

Olive Oil without Borders is now funded to run through 2018. Subpartners include the Peres Center for Peace, the Palestinian Center for Agricultural Research and Development, and Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

زيت الزيتون من دون حدود هو مشروع مدته ثلاث سنوات التي تنفذها مؤسسة الشرق الأدنى والممول من الوكالة الأمريكية للتنمية. الفرعي يشمل شركاء مركز بيريز للسلام والمركز الفلسطيني للبحوث الزراعية والتنمية.

‎שמן זית ללא גבולות הוא פרויקט של שלוש שנים, המיושמת על ידי המזרח הקרוב במימון USAID ושני שותפים בו מרכז פרס לשלום ומרכז פלסטין למחקר ופיתוח חקלאי

Want to learn more about this unique opportunity to promote reconciliation and collaboration between the two groups at a time when the diplomatic process is at a standstill? Visit the NEF website (link here), donations are welcome.

Need some good ideas on how to use olive oil?  Check out this story from Green Prophet archives (link here).

Image of olive pickers from the OOWB website.

The post Olive Oil Without Borders has a recipe for Middle East peace appeared first on Green Prophet.

The food industry is anything but shaky around the world these days, from meat glue to horse meat in “beef” burgers. Who are we to trust? The latest scandal is fake olive found in Israel, including organic varieties. Watch out for it anywhere. We sum up where to buy, and what to avoid. Some are not safe for your consumption.

An Israeli watchdog TV show is good at uncovering scandals. They’ve found toxins in ceramic coated cookware, and slaughterhouse cruelty. Now, Kolbotek a consumer watchdog TV show found on Channel 10 began its 2013 season with a bang by revealing some unpleasant findings about olive oil being manufactured in Israel. Some of the olive oil being sold on the Israeli market is unfit for human consumption. We can assume the issue is more or less the same in other Middle East countries where testing standards are less developed. American sources have suggested that about 70 percent of virgin olive oil is a fake.

The program covered various types and grades of olive oil including that being marketed by companies that virgin and extra virgin olive oil, including organic varieties.

Kolbotek sent 15 olive oil samples for testing at a special laboratory, Kemi Service, that included 9 bottles of oil from one company EVO Israel Ltd.

EVO distributes its products to well known natural and whole foods stores in Israel. The company was reported to have imported more than 44 tons of olive oil from Spain, which is one of the world’s largest olive oil exporters.

September 2012, a company working with EVO and located in the northern Galilee town of  Rosh Pina, Chosen Galil Industries, was found to have larges amounts of this oil that was not for human consumption after lab reports came in.

By this time, more than 20 tons of this oil had already been sold, according to Kolbotek.

Kolbotek’s Rafi Ginat tells it like it is

Although in Hebrew, this link of the Kolbotek program is none-the-less revealing enough:

When asked what they thought about these events, Yigal Friedman, a food quality engineer for the Ministry of Defense said “I don’t have an answer to these allegations.”

Another official, Shai Chen Institute manager for the Health Ministry, replied: “I don’t know what to say.”

When Green Prophet tried to contact EVO’s offices in Tiberius, a recorded message from the Bezeq telephone company said that the number is no longer in service.

To indicate the scope of the laboratory findings, of 15 samples tested, 13 were found to  have much higher levels of mono saturated fats and stearic acids than is acceptable, with an average level of 8 times the acceptable amount of mono saturated fats and 6 times the accepted level of stearic acid.

Print this sheet and take it with you to the supermarket:

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Some of Israel’s most well known stores including the Eden Teva Market whole foods chain, and the Rami Levi discount supermarket chain. Both were found to be selling EVO’s lab failed olive oil, under such brands as Gaya, Gaya Organic, Adama and Kedmah Hagalil.

Brands of olive oil that did pass laboratory inspection include “Zita” olive oil, distributed by the Wissotzky Tea Company, Etz HaZait (Shemen Industries Ltd), Sh Sol (a “house brand” from the Shufer Sol supermarket chain), Meshek Ahiya (in the West Bank); and Yad Mordechai, distributed by the Strauss Group.

What was perhaps the most disturbing findings were of “gephet” olive oil, made from olive residues and supposedly designated for use only for soap or cosmetics. In September, 2012, a large quantity of this oil, not suitable for human consumption, was found in EVO’s Chosen production company.

So much for ‘store bought’ olive oil. What was found to be offered by various local restaurants and coffee shops is no less disturbing.

Kolbotek’s investigators checked selected branches of chains such as Cafe Cafe, Cafe Greg and Aroma Cafe and Expresso Bar and found the following:

Cafe Cafe’s Beach branch in Herzlia Petuach served a mixture of what appeared to be canola and soya oil as olive oil.

Cafe Greg at the Tel Aviv Port , also what appeared to be a mixture of canola and soya oil. Their branch at the Rehovot Mall, however, serves real olive oil.

Aroma’s branch at the Hadera Gate Mall has what appears to be an inferior grade of non-virgin olive oil.

Another Aroma branch, in Netanya, also serves a lesser non-virgin type of olive oil.

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As a result of Kolbotek’s investigations, some changes have occurred. The Rami Levi chain discontinued to stock the Gaya olive oil brands distributed by EVO. The chain’s branches were given orders to remove these brands from their shelves.

This goes for the Adamah brand of oil as well. As for EVO, they have rejected Kolbotek’s findings and their lawyer rejected all accusations against them. The Israeli Health Ministry notes that although EVO oils failed lab tests,  the ministry insists that not all findings are forbidden for health reasons.

A total recall request was not made by the ministry; but it did note that new testing would be required. A court case  instigated by EVO was heard in the city of Nazareth; and the judge ruled that products distributed by EVO and Chosen Galil Industries Ltd are unfit for consumption.

A spot check at the Eden Teva store in Netanya confirmed that the brands like Gaya, Adama and Kidmat Hagalil distributed by EVO and Chosen Galil had been removed from stock.

“These brands were being sold at lower prices,” said the stock manager, who declined to be identified. He did not give Green Prophet an answer as to whether the store chain was aware of the type of olive oil that these companies had been distributing.

This latest watchdog report on olive oil follows on the heals of an earlier Kolbotek program involving alleged poisonous metals being found in ceramic cookware being produced by companies producing cookware brands such as Neoflam.

Neoflam, a Korean based company, later sued Kolbotek and the network which ran the program for allegedly giving false information regarding the toxic metals and other materials being used in the cookware they produce. The results of which have not been reported.

Taking all of this into account the time-worn saying Cavaet Emptor (let the buyer beware) holds true in this case for sure.

Read more on food related issues uncovered by Kolbotek:
Israel’s Cruel Meat Industry Exposed by Watchdog TV Show
Ceramic Coated Cooking Pans May be Killing You With Color
Neoflam Ceramic Pans Are Allegedly Carcinogenic, Causing Panic in Israel

Image of testing oil from Shutterstock

The post Fake Organic Olive Oil is Latest Food Scam in Israel appeared first on Green Prophet.

Olives, staple of Mediterranean cuisine, have dubious origins. Called the “tree of life” for the sustenance it provides and its myriad non-food uses (read our list of 10 weird and wonderful ways to use olive oil), the domesticated olive tree is central to Greek, Roman and early Christian mythology. Today, Spain is the world’s top producer, but where did it all begin? Wild olive trees (oleasters) have been harvested since 10,000 BC, and crop domestication was believed to have started in the Near East (ancient Palestine, now modern Jordan) about 6,000 years ago. Using genetics, fossil records and climate modeling, an international team of experts have determined that the olive tree’s roots lie in one place:

the geo-cultural land know as Kurdistan.

“We conclude that the western Mediterranean was not a major primary center of domestication,” the team wrote in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. “The cradle of primary domestication of the olive tree is located in the northeastern Levant.”

This refers to the modern-day Kurdish zone between Syria and Turkey, study co-author Guillaume Besnard of the French National Center for Scientific Research told AFP.

From there, the domesticated olive likely spread in a counter-clockwise manner to the eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus, westwards to Turkey, Greece, Italy and Spain “in parallel to the expansion of civilizations and human exchanges in this part of the world”, said the report.

The team sampled DNA data from 534 cultivate olive types and 1263 oleasters from 108 locations, as well as 49 trees from a sub-Saharan species. The researchers concluded that the three main branches of wild oleic split from a common ancestor at least 1.5 million years ago, said Besnard.

“The importance of the cultivated olive tree in peoples’ lives has turned this species into a symbol of ancient, sacred literature. The origins of this crop are often subject to controversies,” the paper said.  “I don’t think anybody will dispute that anymore,” said Besnard, according to The Jordan Times.

The man may know olives, but not disparate nations of the Middle East, where ownership of this wonder crop will never be agreed.

Image of ancient olive tree from Shutterstock

The post Olives Trees Have Kurdish Roots appeared first on Green Prophet.

Humans have been plucking the fruit off olive trees for over 10,000 years, so it’s no surprise we’ve found creative ways to use olives and their oils.  They’re native to the Mediterranean-basin, and probably first domesticated in Crete, but who first hatched the recipe for extracting olives’ oils remains an mystery.

We know the stuff is tasty, and its nutritional benefits go far beyond  keeping cholesterol levels in check.  But if you’re aiming to simplify your lifestyle, tapping in the versatility of this kitchen staple is a reasonable way to begin. From hand cleaners to skin moisturizers (without parabens, additives or perfumes) to gum remover… check out ten tasks for this Levantine wonder that you won’t see on the Food Network.

• Hand Cleaner – make a paste of olive oil and sugar (or salt) and scrub your paint-splattered hands (strips almost any sticky goo).  The mess slides right off, and your skin will glow.
• Hair Conditioner – warm a bit of oil (set it in a cup inside a bowlful of boiled water) and apply a few tablespoons onto dampened hair.  Massage into the ends (avoid scalp), pop on a shower cap and let it sit for 20 minutes. Wash hair as usual, thoroughly removing the residue. You’ll be sleek as a seal.
• Skin Moisturizer – pour a few drops in the palm of your hand, dip in a few fingers and pat the oil on your skin.  Gently massage in. Used in small amounts, it’s quickly absorbed. Best to scent with a few drops of your favorite essential oil, or risk smelling like a Caesar salad.
• Leather Conditioner – same technique as above (minus the nice-smelling additives).  Live in arid Jordan for a few years and you learn there’s not much difference between moisturizing your leather and your skin.
• Stainless Steel Polish – give the item a general wash, then drop a bit of oil onto a soft, clean cloth.  Using a circular motion, buff stainless, copper and brass surfaces to a brilliant shine.
• Label Remover – saturate the sticker with oil, and let it sit awhile. Using a flat edged knife or spatula, peel the label right off.
• Chewing Gum Remover – I’ve cleaned gum out of my kids’ hair and our dog’s tail with this technique: soak the affected hair in a generous amount of oil.  Leave it on for as long as the patient’s patience will allow (20 minutes is ideal) , then gently pull hair loose from the sticky wad.
• Lamp Fuel – replace the noxious stuff in your Tiki lamp with pure olive oil.  We did this in a pinch during a summer barbecue and were stunned to see it really works. Many Jews use olive oil for their weekly candle lighting ceremony.
• Furniture Polish – mix well 2 ounces of lemon juice with a teaspoon of olive oil for a combo wood cleaner – and – polisher.  Apply the same technique as for shining metals: soft cloth and circular buffing.
• Shoe Polish – following on the heels of the first nine tips, this one’s sort of intuitive. If olive oil can clean skin, shine appliances, and moisturize skin, of course it can keep your shoes tidy.  (Not recommended for cleaning Uggs.)

The post 10 Weird and Wonderful Uses for Olive Oil appeared first on Green Prophet.

Tucked away in the sleepy village of Bechealeh, Lebanon, 16 olive trees have witnessed 6000 years of political unrest, plagues, diseases, varying climatic conditions and changing civilizations.

In fact these “trees of Noah” are considered by locals to be a living miracle because nature, as we all know, is often silent and passive in the face of hardship, greed and violence so the fact that these arcane olive trees have managed to skirt 6000 years of climatic shifts, hacking axes and diseases makes me believe that, as improbable as this may sound, that there has been some mystical or divine providence watching over and protecting those trees for Bechealeh, for Lebanon and – who knows – maybe even for all the rest of us.

More endangered than Bengal tigers or wild pandas, “the Sisters” olive trees, as locals call them, should be regarded as a precious national asset.

And although the ministry of tourism and culture have recognized the sister olive trees as a site of national importance and the olive trees have earned a spot on Lebanese stamps, and are on their way to be commemorated on the currency notes of the Lebanese Lira; governmental support to actively protect the trees and the heritage of Bechealeh has been shy at best.

Local populations have worked very hard together to maintain the trees and historical structures, yet financial support is greatly needed to ensure that the sites are being preserved fully and correctly and to valorize the area through different projects such as; creating a wildlife preserve, enforcing hunting bans, connecting the historical sites with the modern trails, christening the olive oil open air museum mill as well as creating Bechealeh’s first cultural and library center.

“The Sisters” olive trees of Noah  (as of Feb. 2020 the site was down, and we suspect the NGO too) is a non- profit organization, which has been set up in Bechaleh in order to safeguard its rare ecological and historic gift for generations to come.

Currently the organization is producing and selling top of the line olive oil from its ancient trees to ensure a sustainable source of revenue for the community owned groves and to establish a stable financial inflow to develop the above mentioned projects.

When interviewing George Billing, CEO of The Sisters Olive Trees of Noah, he described to me an olive oil that has been lovingly produced through cold crushing, 4 hours after picking the olives.

The result is unfiltered liquid gold with very low acidity of 0.18°- 0.24°, very high in polyphenols and a unique taste which include notes of pepper, Herbes de Provence and almonds: the goal for the organization is to produce the best olive oil in the Mediterranean Basin.

“The Sisters” olive trees remain one of the great unresolved and virtually unexplored pre-Biblical mysteries; common folklore and a few Biblical Scholars believe that these are the trees from which the dove took the branch back to Noah when the deluge subsided.

This is a plausible theory if you consider that during that great flood when the whole of the Middle East was underwater, “The Sisters” perched at 1300 meters in altitude made them the de facto highest ever planted olive trees from antiquity till our modern day era.

But what we really want to know is…

Are olives a fruit?

Olives are, indeed, small fruits that grow on olive trees (Olea europaea). They belong to a group of fruit called drupes, or stone fruits, and olives are related to mangoes, cherries, peaches, almonds, and pistachios.

Olives are very high in vitamin E and other powerful antioxidants. We started eating them only after discovering their oil. Olives are a key component of the human diet, culinary culture, and economy of the Mediterranean region. Archeological findings and written testimony shows that olive oil was used extensively for consumption, lighting, worship, hygiene, and cosmetic purposes in ancient times. However, the date when olives began to be eaten has remained a mystery. But this story suggests it has the answers.

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A back-to-the-land movement is blossoming in the Palestinian Authority. “The Palestinian future is in the land.” Farmer Khader Khader said, standing in his organic olive grove in the northern West Bank village of Nus Jubail.

Many Palestinian farmers are switching to organic farming methods, and selling their oil to high-end grocers in the US and Europe.

According to the aid group Oxfam, an estimated 17,000 tons of olive oil is produced annually in the West Bank by thousands of farmers, some of whom are producing fair trade olive products. Olive oil has unique traditional and cultural significance in the region. Most Palestinian olive oil is produced for local consumption. But this product is becoming increasingly important for Palestinians’ connection to the global economy.

The business of organic farming, for international markets, was first introduced to the West Bank in 2004. According to Nasser Abu Farha of the Canaan Fair Trade Association (who we’ve covered here), one of the companies selling organic Palestinian olive oil to distributors abroad, today at least $5 million worth of organic olive oil is exported from the territories every year.

“About half of all Palestinian commercial oil exports,” he said. “The future of Palestinian exports is in added value, through environmental and social accountability. People want to know: Where is this oil coming from? Whose life is it changing?”

Around 930 Palestinian farmers have fair-trade and organic certification. Another 140 are in the process of “converting” their land, which takes two-to three-years of testing and monitoring the soil until it is officially certified as free from pesticides and chemicals.

Lack of rain and Israeli trade restrictions are among the many challenges these farmers face. But new digital technology and the rising demand for organic produce are giving Palestinian farmers new ways to compete in global markets.

In Whole Foods supermarkets in New York and New Jersey, organic Palestinian olive oil is sold under the “Alter Eco” brand, Farha said.

“I don’t throw rocks,” said Khader, in reference to young men who hurl stones at Israeli soldiers. The proud farmer, Khader, gestured towards the rock terraces he built in his organic olive grove. “I use them to build our future.”

Read more about green movements in Palestine:

Mapping Palestine’s Environmental Civil Society – The Good, the Bad and the Uncooperative

Could Phones Revolutionize Palestinian Agriculture?

Investing in Ramallah’s Children Key to Sustainability

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An Israeli company makes a mini-sewage plant to help small wineries, olive oil and cheese-makers deal with the pollutants from their industries.

Waste from small olive presses, cheese factories and wineries is not good for the water or soil. Organic farming and the 100-Mile Diet have influenced new college graduates to establish farms instead of seeking jobs in finance. The last decade has seen an explosion of cottage industries in everything from cheese- to wine-making.

As enchanting as a small business is, there is a dirty side to the romance: getting rid of the polluting waste, which can be impossible or expensive. Olive pits and pulp from olive mills, grape pulp and whey cannot be flushed down the drain or pumped back to the land, as they poison groundwater sources and plants.

A new Israeli-led project has a solution that has earned support from the European Union.

The Israeli initiative developed through commercial water company Peleg Hagalil, and the MIGAL-Galilee Technology Center, is based on three innovative steps home-grown at MIGAL.

Called MISTOWW — Mobile Integrated Sustainable System for Treatment of Organic Waste Water — it is intended for small agricultural business owners who can’t afford their own on-site sewage systems, its initiators tell ISRAEL21c. The mobile unit, now in prototype mode, can be wheeled out to the site and shared among several businesses.

The unit not only cleans agricultural waste, but also creates biogas and usable irrigation water as valuable byproducts.

The University of Patras in Greece and CETENMA Technology Centre for Energy and the Environment in Spain have partnered with MIGAL to launch and develop the technology Europe-wide.

Stopping up the works

Based in the Galilee region of Israel, the hub of the country’s olive and wine industries, the folks at MIGAL and Peleg are very familiar with the environmental problems caused by waste from these industries.

“They have the same problems in Europe that we have over here in Israel,” says Eddie Schossev from Peleg Hagalil, who is coordinating the project with Prof. Uri Marchaim from MIGAL.

“When you refine olives there are remains which are poisonous, to some extent. If you take the remains and dump them into the sewage plant they become like poison to the bacteria that break down the waste,” he says. “So the solution was to create a mini-sewage plant onsite that would deal with the special remains of the olive-oil industry” — as well as wine-making and cheese-making, he notes.

Though the Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection gives interim permits for olive-oil mills to scatter bio-waste back onto the olive fields at some points in the year, too many mills dump it illegally on land or down the drain. Eventually, municipal sewage systems in the Galilee become blocked for periods of time around olive season, Marchaim tells ISRAEL21c.

Wheeling into new markets?

Peleg Hagalil, which owns and operates municipal sewage treatment plants in the north of Israel, owns the technology and commissioned MIGAL researchers Prof. Giora Rytwo, Prof. Iggy Litaor and Hassan Azaizeh, who is also an olive-oil hobbyist, to do the research. Peleg Hagalil and EU sources have split the R&D financing of MISTOWW 50-50.

Marchaim says there are three levels of innovation in the mobile MISTOWW. The first stage in the unit is a patent-pending settling system that uses polymers and a type of clay. The second stage uses fixed bacteria to create biogas for fuel, and the third stage generates clean water through a process called “accelerated wetlands” – meaning the wetlands are encased in the unit.

A pilot of the three-step processing plant will be up and running by the end of the year at the Dalton Winery to test the volumes of grape waste it can handle. The aim is to process 20 cubic meters of waste per day. After that, MISTOWW will be wheeled over to olive mills during the harvest later in the Israeli winter.

Project coordinators Schossev and Marchaim expect that two more pilot plants need to be set up in Europe this year in order to be a proof-of-concept to small olive-oil presses and wineries there.

“They need to see with their own eyes that it works,” says Marchaim.

A $3 million investment is sought to take MISTOWW from prototype to marketable product. This could be done in less than a year, says Marchaim, who is also head of the department of biotechnology and regional development at MIGAL. Schossev is handling business development.

MISTOWW is portable so it can be shared among several businesses.
MISTOWW is not the first Israeli technology to turn olive waste into valuable byproducts, but it is the first to answer the mobile need for small businesses.

Other Israeli companies in the market include Genova, which turns olive mill and winery waste into biomass for heat and energy, and Agrobics, which has developed a permanent onsite solution for treating agricultural wastewater. There is also Olivebar, which presses olive waste into bio-logs for fireplaces.

This is reprinted from ISRAEL21c – www.israel21c.org

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