The article “Like An Extra Virgin” by Anne Meneley expresses a conflict between olive oil enthusiasts and adversaries of the craze of olive oil. Meneley’s unbiased explanation of olive oil seeks to inform the reader of how the production and marketing factors into the world’s perception of the ingredient. She analyzes how the difference between industrial and artisanal olive oil can compare to the world’s view of it being ancient and natural. Meneley presents the idea of the “Mediterranean Diet” and how it is perceived to be a healthier and a purer form of eating. Olive oil falls into this “diet” because of its history and mythology, displaying it as a natural gift whereas in reality, this form of eating is truly good because of its prominence of its healthy fats. Meneley uses this idea to support her argument that people fall victim to the marketed portrayal of olive oil and lose sight of the real reason the food of that culture thrives. She further discusses how ideas like this boost the popularity of the ingredient throughout history, even in places where it wasn’t always easy to get. However, she is much more interested in the real reason olive oil is a gift and not so much why people wrongly think it’s a gift, that being that it still contains many health benefits. Her argument helps the audience understand the difference between industrial and artisanal olive oil. The key difference is being that artisanal, or what people would consider “extra virgin” olive oil, is made from over ripened and bruised olives. Olive oil in its natural state can be bitter and difficult to digest without undergoing chemically induced procedures that the public would view as industrialized and less natural. Industrialized olive oil also involves using machinery that makes the production of the product a more exact science and allows the producers to more consistently end up with a familiar result. Meneley does not see this process as a negative but instead as a necessary thing that has fallen into the negative stigma of “unnatural” because of branders and public perception. This directly challenges how someone may think of the ingredient and forces them to admit that olive oil, although highly regarded in the culinary world and within households, is not as special as people have been made to believe. She does not aim to discredit the ingredient but rather debunk its perceived “naturalness” and maybe have people to learn respect the food for what truly makes it good. Meneley states, “As in the case of wine, in olive oil discourses of connoisseurship, the agri-cultural, the technoscientific, and the aesthetic are brought together in one field.” (684). This shows the amount of care and small difference that go into creating and caring for olive oil. She respects the oil as much as people respect fine wine and is in no way undermining it, only looking for it to receive the attention it deserves for the reason it deserves. That is the heart of her article.  

Meneley, Anne. 2007. “Like An Extra Virgin.” American Anthropologist 109 (4): 678-87.

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