Andalusian Festival Inaugurates Virtual Event
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced some parts of La Molienda de Riogordo olive oil festival online. Organizers are capitalizing on the opportunity to offer an English-language version.
Leila Bayandor Lawson
Forty kilometers north of Málaga, in the heart of Andalusia’s Axorquia region, the tiny village of Riogordo will celebrate its annual olive oil culture festival despite current Covid-19 containment measures.
This year, La Molienda de Riogordo will also inaugurate an online companion event, which will take place a few days before the festival and is dedicated to the many English-speaking residents of the region.
YouTube viewers with
olive oil anywhere in their search algorithm will likely encounter a 10-minute advertisement for a brand with some lofty claims.
The video begins with a sensational hook:
“Olive oil from your local grocery store might actually be more harm than good for your body.”
Gundry, who is not an accredited dietician, came under criticism long before his foray into the olive oil business.
The pitchman is Steven R. Gundry, a Beverly Hills-based cardiac surgeon and author, who claims his olive oil brand contains
Episode 101 Sweet Temptations: How Sugar Captivated Tastebuds and Global Trade
Aired: Saturday, January 23rd 2021
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HOSTED BY Caity Moseman Wadler Kat Johnson
The desire for sweetness is biologically hardwired in humans, according to Dr. Gary Beauchamp, longtime former director and president of the Monell Chemical Senses Center. It is an evolutionary response that developed way back when sweet things were hard to find in the natural environment. Now, we can find sweets just about
anywhere.
Part of our global trade mini-series, this episode focuses on all things sweet! Ironically, the history of sugar comes with some bitter truths. Stories include the problematic journey of the cocoa bean from West Africa to chocolate products in the U.S., farmers pushing back against “Big Sugar,” cultural appropriation at the National Date Festival, and the intertwined history of Silk Road merchants and the first domesticated apples.