Featuring the oil of Salvatore Mirisola

Salvatore Mirisola's Extra Virgin Olive Oil is certified organic by the European Union

European Union requirements for organic food certification are quite strict. Only fertilizers that are 100% natural in origin, such as the compost of natural matter, may be used. (Commercially produced nitrogen fertilizer is strictly forbidden).

In addition, all chemical pesticides are banned. On the Mirisola and Oliveira estates, insect control is managed through the use of traps, and by nature: many of the trees are high in windy places.

EU regulations also specify acceptable harvesting practices and stipulate that organic food can only be processed in certified sanitary facilities. In both Italy and in Portugal, farms and processing facilities are subject to inspection by the national agricultural ministries, working with the European Commission in Brussels.

As a final safeguard, The Organic Olive Oil subjects its products to review by an independent Italian laboratory that specializes in vegetable oil analysis.

Few growers practice organic farming for an obvious economic reason: organic methods greatly reduce a crop's yield (and consequently the farmer's profit). In the case of olives, an organic farmer's harvest, on a per-tree basis, is typically just 1/8th that of the non-organic farmer.

Clearly, it's a special person who chooses to farm organically - people like Salvatore Mirisola and Joana and Joao Oliveira, who see their oils as gifts from nature, helped a bit along the way by human hands.