`Schoolchildren Celebrate 'Andalusia Day' with Traditional Breakfast of Toast and Olive Oil - Olive Oil Times

Schoolchildren Celebrate 'Andalusia Day' with Traditional Breakfast of Toast and Olive Oil

By Erin Ridley
Mar. 2, 2016 09:25 UTC

Last Friday, some 150,000 stu­dents across Spain’s Andalusía spent their class time savor­ing the region’s most tra­di­tional break­fast; toast driz­zled with local extra vir­gin olive oil. The event formed part of Andalusia Day, a hol­i­day that com­mem­o­rates the region with music and dance, and lots of olive oil.

When it comes to break­fast in Andalusia, there is per­haps no more sig­na­ture sus­te­nance than a tostada con aceite, often topped with a layer of crushed tomato. In fact, across Spain it is com­mon for locals to walk into any bar, café or even a gas sta­tion restau­rant and order the iconic day-starter, which by default comes drip­ping with olive oil.

It high­lights one of the things we do best in Andalusia, which is the pro­duc­tion of top qual­ity food.- Andalusia President Carmen Ortiz

So, nat­u­rally, on the day that exalts all things Andalusia — the world’s lead­ing region for olive oil pro­duc­tion — liq­uid gold is an impor­tant part of the school pro­gram. The goal, accord­ing to the Andalusian gov­ern­ment, is to edu­cate and help pre­serve the region’s agri­cul­tural tra­di­tion by bring­ing class­rooms closer to local prod­ucts, par­tic­u­larly olive oil.

To that end, the Ministry of Agriculture pro­vided schools across Andalucía with 7,650 bot­tles of extra vir­gin olive oil from the region of Sierra Mágina, which is located in the province of Jaén.

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, Carmen Ortiz at a school in Huelva.

The activ­ity, explained Andalusia’s pres­i­dent Carmen Ortiz, demon­strates a healthy way of eat­ing, which includes the Mediterranean diet, and it high­lights one of the things we do best in Andalucía, which is the pro­duc­tion of top qual­ity food.”

This ini­tia­tive is part of a pro­gram called Creciendo en Salud, or Growing in Health, which is car­ried out by the Ministry of Education. Its over­all objec­tive is to encour­age a vari­ety of healthy habits, includ­ing good nutri­tion. Along with olive oil, the pro­gram also advo­cates for the con­sump­tion of local fruits and veg­eta­bles.

Olive oil is a key com­po­nent in Andalusia Day cel­e­bra­tions across the region; from schools to spe­cial hos­pi­tal menus, to tast­ings at pub­lic recre­ation cen­ters for the elderly.


Advertisement
Advertisement

Related Articles