The Farm Beat: Inside the Oil Industry

I looked at the back label on my olive oil at home to see where it was made. Spain, Italy, Portugal and Turkey was the answer. I mention this because I am working on a story about the emerging olive oil business in California. The producers, some of them in and near Stanislaus County, see great potential for oil with the California name, rather than the generic Mediterranean stuff on my shelf. The effort is mainly in the high-end market so far, but it’s possible that the everyday oil market will thrive too. We have the right growing conditions. And only 1 percent of U.S. consumption is oil from within our borders. Look for the story Sunday.