Reading about the cultural history of olive oil was really interesting. I know that I normally don’t think about products having any mythic or cultural past and I think it’s a nice perspective to look at. As someone who throughly enjoys the biological side of things, I was really interested in the technoscientific discourses that argue the health aspect to olive oil. I had no idea that there was an actual study on the postwar standard of living and that the massive amount of intake olive oil correlated with the low heart disease rates of the Greeks due to the “good” fat, which can be found in avocados as well! The whole intrinsic qualities guaranteeing the “rightness” of these scientific claims was something that I didn’t really agree with but since it was presented after the study, I can live with it! I guess I have too. Another interesting point was the tension between artisans and the companies that mass produce olive oil. I definitely think this is something that you could find in almost any region but focusing specifically on this product allows the reader to look at Mediterranean as unit in itself since olive oil is a connecting factor. Overall, it was a really nice article for being solely on olive oil!
