Jordan Olive Oil Factory

  





One day, on our way to teach Bible studies in northern Jordan, our translator took us by an olive oil factory. His family, who had an olive grove, used this factory and he knew the owners. 

It was olive harvest in Jordan and each family brought their olives to a factory like this for processing. 

First, the sticks and leaves were separated from the olives, the olives were then mashed, and the oil was separated from the solids. The olive oil was then poured into containers that each family would take home with them. Men and women waited there in the factory for their olives to be turned into oil. 

The owner grabbed a (used) plastic water bottle and filled it with oil. He handed it to us. It was a gift for us. We accepted graciously but must admit that we did not use the oil. Although it was fascinating to see how locals process their olive oil and it would be impossible to get oil fresher than this, we were quite sure that the sanitation was probably not up to par. 

Nevertheless, the people were excited to have us visit their factory. It is possible that we were one of the few Americans to ever step foot inside it.