«…Some people are given names like familiar friends or the beloved woman (all the trees in our house are feminine) because they are woven to our days, to our joys, like the weave of burnous that cover our bodies… «Mouloud MAMMERI
2020, the year the world changed forever, a most dangerous pandemic has come to wipe out the lives of thousands of people around the world.
Meanwhile in Virginia, a woman named Jill Myers had the excellent idea of bringing together women active in the olive sector, weaving gently but surely on the social network webs of intercontinental links, chemists, researchers, olive growers, tasting experts, olive oil producers, by-products and chefs. On April 30, 2020 Women in olive oil was born!
Today, at the time of writing this article, the organization counts more than 1000 women from different Mediterranean countries among its members: Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Italy, Spain, Greece and France, from the southern hemisphere: Australia, United States of America, Brazil and also from the Middle East: Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.
This collective, which is growing day by day from a simple idea to a concept with a global echo, is essentially based on strong human and social values creating positive synergies between women in the same sector, enabling them to help each other and form a single movement for global change.
It is essential for the movement to establish standards governing fair trade practices while offering a quality product that respects mother nature, man and his habitat, without any segregation of gender, race and ethnicity.
Women in olive oil, represented in more than 40 countries, offers an opportunity and a platform for exchange, education and projection into the future. Indeed, these women experts, professionals, educators and producers are working to set up large-scale projects with local and international impact.
The organization is still young but represents an enormous opportunity for all women working in the oil sector to stand out and free themselves from everything that has harmed them and hindered their professional development.
Yamina DERDAH