`California Senator Wolk to Chair Subcommittee on Olive Oil Production - Olive Oil Times

California Senator Wolk to Chair Subcommittee on Olive Oil Production

By Olive Oil Times Staff
Feb. 24, 2011 18:46 UTC

SACRAMENTO — The Senate has named Senator Lois Wolk (D‑Davis) to chair a newly con­sti­tuted sub­com­mit­tee tasked with iden­ti­fy­ing bur­geon­ing agri­cul­tural prod­ucts and inves­ti­gat­ing com­pet­i­tive prac­tices and meth­ods to fos­ter prod­uct growth and con­sumer aware­ness.

The newly estab­lished Senate Subcommittee on Olive Oil Production and Emerging Products will be under the Senate Agriculture Committee with an ini­tial focus on California’s olive oil indus­try.

I am look­ing for­ward to work­ing with the olive oil indus­try, hear­ing their chal­lenges and forg­ing solu­tions to insure a sus­tain­able indus­try that can com­pete in the global mar­ket­place,” said Senator Wolk. California’s Mediterranean cli­mate is par­tic­u­larly well suited to grow­ing olives. Olive oil pro­duc­tion is a green indus­try which pro­vides a heart healthy prod­uct. It deserves our atten­tion and sup­port.”

Dan Flynn, Executive Director of the UC Davis Olive Center said, California is pro­duc­ing high qual­ity olive oil. We are encour­aged that Senator Wolk is focus­ing on the issues of con­cern to this rapidly grow­ing indus­try.”

The California Olive Oil Council is pleased that the California Senate rec­og­nizes the impor­tance and growth of the olive oil indus­try in California with the for­ma­tion of a new Senate Subcommittee on Olive Oil and emerg­ing Products to be headed by Senator Lois Wolk,” said Bruce Golino, Board Member and past President of the COOC.

Brady Whitlow, President, Corto Olive com­mented, California olive oil is con­sid­ered to be among the best in the world, how­ever, our indus­try is under assault as European olive oil pro­duc­ers look to flood the United States with cheap, fre­quently mis­la­beled oils to sell to unsus­pect­ing con­sumers. It is our hope that Senator Wolk will call atten­tion to this ongo­ing prob­lem, raise con­sumer aware­ness and enable our indus­try to increase demand among American con­sumers while enabling our
indus­try to mature, expand and hire more peo­ple.”

Gregg Kelley, President and CEO, California Olive Ranch observed, This new com­mit­tee is very timely. The California olive oil indus­try has a bright future as long as we can com­pete on a level play­ing field with European pro­duc­ers. I am encour­aged that the leg­is­la­ture is plac­ing a focus on our issues.”

Joe Muller, owner of Copper Hill Olive Oil said, My mes­sage to this sub­com­mit­tee is to require truth in adver­tis­ing. The con­sumer needs to know what they are buy­ing.”

The Senate Subcommittee on Olive Oil Production and Emerging Products mem­ber­ship includes Senator Noreen Evans (D‑Santa Rosa) and Doug La Malfa (R‑Richvale).



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