A volunteer initiative, started in the suburb of Glyfada, Athens, is ensuring that no olive goes to waste. The initiative, in its second year running, aims to make use of the fruit from the olive trees on public property that would otherwise go to waste. On the 26th of October volunteers began harvesting olives from the trees in an effort to provide oil for local residents in need.
A resident, Stavros Giakoumakis, proposed the project to Mayor Giorgos Papanikolaou in September 2014. Giakoumakis and others had been deploring the waste of all the produce they saw growing on public lands around Athens, stated the press officer of the Municipality of Glyfada.
The process is directed by a few people with experience in harvesting olives and volunteers from the public and various organisations show up to assist in the process. Different schools took part in assisting with a few classes helping with the harvest for an hour each. Glyfada’s press officer commented, “I think they loved it. It was a unique experience” for those city children, who had never before had anything to do with an olive harvest.
Citizens who heard about the olive gathering project volunteered to press the olives without charge, and a company has provided a mobile unit that will begin production in schoolyards this week. Most of the olives will be pressed outside schools this year, so students can witness the oil making process firsthand.
The program has proven successful so far, last year volunteers from various clubs, organizations, and schools collected four metric tons of olives, and social service agencies in the Municipality of Glyfada distributed the 600 kilograms of extra virgin oil to impoverished individuals and families in 3-liter containers.
This is a significant contribution for families suffering the financial and economic strain that Greece is experiencing. Last year there weren’t enough volunteers to collect all the olives available for harvest, however, Mayor Giorgos Papanikolaou is hopeful that, with more volunteers they can collect even more olives.
It looks like a good year for olives, but it is unclear how much oil they will produce; that depends partly on the number of volunteers and the number of hours and days they can contribute to the effort. We’re trying to mobilize as many people as possible. – Municipality of Glyfada, Greece
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