LIQUID GOLD

Olive oil pilgrimage brings Midwesterners to Greece in pursuit of liquid gold

Tracy Briggs — Sat, 02 Apr 2022 11:30:00 GMT

ATHENS, Greece — Dawn doesn’t break in Athens the way it does in some cities. It’s eerily quiet here, even at 7:30 a.m. when many American cities are already bustling with activity. But as the sun starts to rise and a pink hue creeps into the lavender sky, the 5 million residents of Athens ease ever so slowly into their day. After all, it’s a late-night kind of city, with dinner often not served until 10 p.m.

However, the morning isn’t so bad when your eyes open to see what others have seen for centuries: a spectacular view as the morning light envelops the Acropolis, the ancient fortress built upon the rocks above the city.

A short time later, just to the west, on the limestone rocks surrounding the ruins, a group of Americans, undeterred by a light drizzle that has now crept in, listens to Peter Schultz. He's a pied piper under a black umbrella — a man we’ve followed 5,000 miles across the ocean for a shot at immersing ourselves, even for just a short time, in a new way of life in a very old land.

Schultz knows how to spin a tale as he prepares us for our day of walking through the Athenian Acropolis, including the Parthenon, the most revered of all ancient temples.

He shares all the facts we need to know, like the professor he is, but he’s definitely that “cool” professor who peppers his anecdotes of Greek gods, goddesses and historic battles with words like "bro," "dude" and "epic." With Schultz’s narration, ancient Greece comes alive like a hot, new Netflix series.

For the past 10 years, the charismatic Schultz has taken a group of mostly Midwesterners to Greece, the country he calls “the center of my world.” But it’s not simply a vacation to learn about the country credited with giving us democracy, literature, religion and the arts. It’s much more than that.

As Schultz would say, it’s “mind-blowing when you can witness the world shrink before your eyes.”

Over the next several days, we invite you along for Forum Communications Co.'s "Liquid Gold" series to see how bridges are being built from the Midwest to the Mediterranean. And it all began with a simple bottle of olive oil.

Schultz’s love affair with Greece started in 1997, when he was a graduate student working on his dissertation in Athens with prominent archaeologist Olga Palagia. He was working on the art and restoration architecture of a small temple within the Acropolis. But it was something that happened away from school that would alter the course of his life forever.

Like a lot of grad students seeking to please their adviser, Schultz couldn’t say no when Palagia asked if he’d be willing to help her husband, Eugene Ladopoulos, put labels on bottles of olive oil he was producing on their farm 2 1/2 hours south of Athens, in Mistras.

“I didn't know what that entailed at this point. But I went over to his warehouse, and he was there with crates of olive oil,” Schultz explains. “And we sat there, sort of in this barn, sticking on the very first labels of bottles of his olive oil: Mistra Estates extra-virgin olive oil.”

At the time, Schultz, who grew up in Minnesota, Texas and California, was like a lot of Americans in thinking that olive oil is olive oil is olive oil.

He certainly wasn’t sampling as he was labeling the bottles in what he called “the dusty old warehouse,” but later Ladopoulos gave him a bottle to try.

Schultz put it on a simple Greek salad, with cucumbers, tomato, feta cheese and red onion. Then he took the bite that he said changed his life.

“I remember the contrast of this fresh ground pepper on that white feta. It was just dripping with oil and I took a bite. I took one crunch and it was sort of like a firework going off in my mind. Right? Not just the mouth. It was a soulful experience,” Schultz said.

OK, but life-changing? Really? Yes, when you consider what happened a few years and several bottles later in 2004.

Peter had been living in Greece for about seven years when Eugene asked him if he’d be willing to bring the oil back to the Midwest to share with people there.

“My first response was, ‘Well, you know, where I live, we like butter and lard. That's what we're into.’ And he said, ‘Well, you know, you have to try, Peter, because everybody loves good things.’ This is what he said in his way. And that simple sentence became sort of the basis for this,” Schultz said.

However, they got off to a rough start, importing 40 cases of oil and selling very little of it. Moorhead restaurateurs Tony and Sarah Nasello ended up buying him out to save him from the loss.

“But the next year, the people who did buy bought again and told their friends, and that is how it started. That was 16 years ago now. And every year, it's grown in the same sort of way, sort of word of mouth,” Schultz said.

As the popularity of the oil grew, some of Schultz’s customers started to wonder why Ladopoulos’ oil was so good. Schultz would explain that it comes directly from Eugene’s small farm of olive trees that have been around for centuries. It’s natural and unprocessed, and each year the tastes are different based upon the weather and other environmental factors.

But better than explain it all, Schultz started to put together a pilgrimage of sorts. Every October, he began to take about 10 people with him to walk the city streets and cobblestone paths of Athens, Sparta, Mistras and more to learn where and how the oil is made and to show off the place he calls his second home. He switches from speaking English to Greek in a heartbeat.

For those of us who followed Peter from site to site for a week, we most often heard him utter “Páme,” meaning, ”let’s go,” or “Teleios,” meaning “perfect,” when talking to the friendly Greek people who helped us along the way.

Michaela Chorn, an artist and tattoo artist now living in the Twin Cities, has wanted to come on the trip since she met Schultz when she was a student at Concordia College in Moorhead, where he was teaching at the time.

“He's someone you want to be around. He's someone that makes you feel important and special and that you have a lot of potential and that you should chase that potential and achieve your dreams, as corny as that sounds,” Chorn said.

In tomorrow's installment of "Liquid Gold," we dive deeper into how olive oil — the reason these Americans are here — has played an integral part in Greek culture and life — and why Thomas Jefferson called the olive tree one of his most important contributions to American history.

Liquid Gold

For more information about Forum Communications' series and read all published installments, visit www.inforum.com/liquidgold. Tune into WDAY-TV at noon Saturday, April 9, to watch our full-length documentary, which will also be available on the Liquid Gold page beginning April 11.

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How olive oil became the lifeblood of Greece and trickled into American culture

Tracy Briggs — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 11:30:00 GMT

ATHENS, Greece — It’s one of those mornings in Greece that has tourists asking, “Do I bring the umbrella?” The rain that spit on them as they sipped on their morning espresso has now subsided — ominous, almost angry clouds giving way to a glorious blue sky.

It’s as if Zeus, the Greek god of thunder and lightning himself, decided to give the tourists a break just as they climbed the steps of his mythical home at the Acropolis of Athens.

In 2019, prior to the pandemic, close to 3 million people walked through the famous ancient archaeological site located on a rocky outcrop above the city. In fact, the word “acropolis” comes from the Greek words for “highest point” and “city.” The site was closed briefly in the spring of 2020 and has since reopened to tourists who stroll through what is left of the ancient buildings and temples so often mentioned for their historical significance and contributions to modern architecture.

Several of the Greek gods and goddesses are honored here on these limestone hills. The goddess Athena gets top billing. After all, the city of Athens is named for her, and the most famous structure within the Acropolis, the Parthenon, is dedicated to her.

Over the centuries, the Parthenon — and in fact, all the monuments that make up the Acropolis — endured war, weather, natural disasters and vandalism to be remembered for many things: as a home to kings, a citadel, a mythical home of the gods, a religious center, a tourist attraction and an enduring symbol of democracy and Western civilization.

But if the Acropolis is the heart of this nation, what is its lifeblood?

Without a doubt, it's olive oil, known to some here as “liquid gold” for all that it has given to Greek culture and the Greeks themselves. Now, one American man is hoping to bring the benefits to his country.

Peter Schultz is an American with the soul of a Greek. An archaeologist, entrepreneur and former professor, he studied and lived in Greece for seven years. He now leads others in expeditions through the countryside and the olive groves that changed his life.

It began in 1997 for Schultz, when he traveled to Mistras in the Peloponnese, the southern peninsula of Greece. For Schultz, this is the place where he struck gold when he met up and started partnering with an olive oil farmer named Eugune Ladopoulos who produces the olive oil in his grove, while Peter helps bring it back home to friends in the United States.

Schultz started calling it “liquid gold,” not just for the smooth, rich taste of the oil, but for the ways in which the oil made him feel. He started following the Mediterranean diet, which we’ll get to in a future story in Forum Communications' five-part "Liquid Gold" series, but before we can get to that, it's important to point out what an integral part olive oil has played in this nation’s history.

“It is a truly ancient, primordial history. As a genotype, we are talking about a plant that has lived on earth for millions of years. In terms of human interaction with the olive tree, it goes back in terms of the archaeological record at least 10,000 years before the present moment,” Schultz said.

He said the oil went beyond use to eat and even drink — it became the fundamental staple of religious, political and cultural life for the ancient Greeks.

“It was a kind of currency. It was awarded in games as prizes. It was a base for all of their perfumes. It was used by athletes in the gymnasium and during the Olympics. It was offered to the gods. It was the source of profound pride throughout the Mediterranean,” he said.

The olive tree and olive branch became national symbols for Greece, emphasizing the Greeks’ love of peace and hospitality. Many of the biggest trees and most abundant groves exist in the region of Mistras and Sparta. Schultz said some of the oldest olive trees can be as much as 30 feet across — sprawling, strange, gargantuan trees.

“They look like a kind of strange, hunched grandfather,” Schultz said. “He's been around in that field for 6,000 years, and he's still giving us the fruit every winter. You know, it's just incredible.”

The influence of olive oil on Western civilization crossed oceans, even to colonial America. Founding father and third president Thomas Jefferson, often called the first foodie president, was a huge fan of olive oil after being introduced to it while living in France in the 1780s.

He even called olive trees “the most interesting plant in existence,” and he worked hard to bring olive oil farming to his young country.

He convinced South Carolina to let him purchase young olive trees, then spent years promoting their cultivation. He believed that among "the blessings which this tree sheds on the poor" was its ability to make a limited diet more wholesome and vegetables drizzled with olive oil more appealing. Sounds like something we hear today.

Unfortunately, by 1804, Jefferson had to admit failure after South Carolina’s farmers were less than enthusiastic about the project. Not only were they impatient that olive trees took years to produce their first crop, but they fell victim to bouts of bad weather, random frost and humidity.

Disappointed by the Carolina olive oil project but still wanting the oil for himself, Jefferson resorted to importing 4 to 5 gallons a year from France.

Fortunately, Jefferson’s dream of American olive oil didn’t perish. Olive trees are currently grown in a handful of American states, including California, Oregon and Texas.

In fact, just days after getting back to the United States after going with Schultz on this olive oil pilgrimage, Ron and Amanda Phillips of Austin, Texas, decided to start a mini olive grove in their backyard.

"I'd heard that olive trees grew really well in the Texas hill country, which is where our home is. I've also always said if you're going to plant a tree, you might as well plant a tree that feeds you," Ron Phillips said. "We fell in love with Greece, and we ate olives and olive oil from trees that somebody planted hundreds (and thousands) of years ago. The thought of being stewards of that legacy made it seem like a natural thing to plant a few trees in our yard. They'll always remind of us that trip, the culture and the people. They'll give us a way to reconnect for years to come as we brine our own olives and press a little bit of oil for ourselves."

Phillips said the trees are still very young but appear to be doing well.

In tomorrow's installment of "Liquid Gold," we take you to the heart of Eugene Ladopoulos’ olive grove to see where the magic begins.

Liquid Gold

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You think that beer guy is 'the most interesting man in the world'? Time to meet Eugene Ladopoulos

Tracy Briggs — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 11:30:00 GMT

MISTRAS, Greece — It’s important to get your head in the right space when you come to Mistras, or Mystras, in southern Greece.

It’s miles away in distance and mindset from the metropolis of Athens 2 1/2 hours to the north. As you make the isolated drive into Mistras, the first thing you’ll notice is Mount Taygetos, a beautiful, rugged mountain covered in a sea of green olive trees. On the side of the mountain are the remains of Byzantine castles and churches.

The ruins of a medieval palace and churches are open to anyone who wants to navigate the rugged cobblestone paths. The town on the mountain was virtually abandoned by the 19th century when the modern town of Sparta popped up in the valley.

The only inhabitants today are a handful of nuns who still live at the Pantanassa Monastery, tucked away amid the greenery and stray cats.

So maybe you don’t need to get your mind in the right space after all — it just happens when you get here. As the Greek City Times wrote, “As soon as you arrive here, you sense a strong spiritual energy, which brings peace and calm to the body, mind and soul.”

Perhaps that’s why Eugene Ladopoulos is the way he is. A native to the region, Eugene seems to radiate light. An infectious enthusiasm that isn’t dampened by this very damp day. He’s not letting a little rain and a lot of mud stop him from sharing his passion: his olive trees and the oil they produce.

Ladopoulos is the man behind Mistra Estates Olive Oil. In today's installment of Forum Communications' "Liquid Gold" series, he is taking a group of Americans on a tour of his beloved grove.

The rain is unusual. It’s been a dry summer. The ground is still brown, but Eugene is happy to see the green poking through. He’s even more pleased as he looks at his trees and the olives that are growing larger.

“All of the rain, we are not happy, but look at them, the olives, they are happy,” he said.

He insists those on the tour soak up more than the rain — he wants us to engage all of our senses and immerse ourselves in what the land and rainfall is giving us.

“He is a genteel scholar, farmer and philosopher. He loves his trees, he loves his land. He loves his country, and he is so proud of what he is producing. I don't really know anybody quite like him,” said Peter Schultz, an archaeologist and entrepreneur in Moorhead, Minnesota, who first met Eugene while working on his Ph.D. dissertation with Eugene’s wife, Olga Palagia, a highly regarded professor of archaeology.

The two men struck up a unique friendship and soon a partnership to bring the olive oil Eugene was producing on his farm 1 mile away from Mistras to the United States. The people walking with Eugene today have purchased Eugene’s oil.

They learn from the man himself what goes into producing it. He darts from tree to tree like a man half his age, energized by the thousand or so trees on his land, some close to 1,000 years old.

Eugene said there are about eight or nine varieties of olives grown on the trees. Sometimes, one tree will have three or four varieties growing on it.

The trees are often surrounded by wildflowers, blackberries and oregano. Just inches from the base of the tree, they can influence the taste of the harvested oil.

We had so many questions for Eugene about his olive trees, the harvesting and the man behind it all. To get away from the rain, we went to Eugene’s 19th century barn, where he fed us pork and potatoes roasted over an open fire.

Despite Eugene looking like someone who has grown up working the land, farming came relatively late to him.

“I was the economic adviser to the U.S. Embassy for 30 years,” he said.

That’s right: an economic adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Athens. A big job. In fact, he worked in the area of business, economics and marketing for 50 years.

But he traded in his suits and ties a few years back to work the land. He was inspired to buy and develop the land by the ancient Spartans who lived nearby. It became his passion project — one he won’t do halfheartedly. He said he doesn’t spray his trees with any chemicals for fear it will affect the taste of the olive oil or even harm those who consume the oil.

Harvesting, which happens anywhere from October to February, is also done with care for the earth and nature. Schultz explains that unlike larger operations that use machines to shake the olives loose from the trees and can affect nesting birds, at Eugene’s grove, harvest is gentle.

“We will lay down nets, and we will trim the branches and then handpick the olives," Schultz explained. “In a small single estate outfit like us, we know where the birds are, we know where we need to handpick around them, so we are nurturing our shared landscape there with no harm to any creature.”

From there, the olives are put through a mechanical olive press, a technology that has been around since about 3,000 B.C., around the same time period as some of the oldest trees in existence. The oil is then put in vats to settle for anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months.

“Our oil tastes different every year, and the reason why is that there are no inputs. So whatever the earth gives the tree that season is what we will get,” Schultz said.

That means oil from a wet year might taste different than oil from a dry year. The taste might also change depending upon which varieties of olives are most prevalent in that year’s crop.

But every year, the oil from Mistra Estates comes from the first pressing with no additives — a true extra-virgin olive oil — unlike much of the oil on the market.

“In 2012, the University of California, Davis did a study of of all oils on the shelves of American supermarkets, and found that about 87% of all of these oils claiming to be extra-virgin olive oil were, in fact, fraudulent," Schultz said. "They were cut with other oils, they were not extra-virgin or they had chemical profiles that did not line up with the definition of extra-virgin olive oil."

Olive oil industry officials blame the Italian mafia or the agromafia for tampering with extra-virgin olive oil by mixing it with lower grade oils. The customer who thinks they’re paying for top-grade oil is usually not getting it.

Ladopoulos is quick to point out there are very good olive oils to be had in America. Sometimes you just need to do your research. Experts say if the oil is too cheap or too light in color, it might not be extra-virgin olive oil — despite what the label says.

Ladopoulos and Schultz are doing their part to help some foodies in America know they’re getting pure oil by bringing it to them almost straight from the tree. But right now, Ladopoulos as a small producer doesn’t have the capacity or even the desire to sell to the masses.

They are now importing oil to Fargo, Bismarck and Grand Forks in North Dakota, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Duluth and Detroit Lakes in Minnesota, and Austin, Texas. It’s usually available by pre-order months in advance or at one or two specially selected places in each town. For more information, email peter@peterschultzimporter.com.

“We don't want it to be everywhere,” Schultz said. “We want it to be something that you have to seek out. That's the liquid gold ethos. It's like a hidden treasure, right?"

But for Ladopoulos, the treasure also comes from something else — the relationships and friendships he is making with the Americans who make the pilgrimage to his land every year.

“This is my payment, my pleasure,” Ladopoulos said with a satisfied smile so big, his eyes crinkle at the sides. “If you do something, love it! That’s my pleasure to meet nice people and to share something given by nature.”

In tomorrow's installment of the "Liquid Gold" series, we'll take a closer look at how the use of olive oil in a Mediterranean diet has promising results for heart health.

Liquid Gold

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It's all Greek to me, or it should be when it comes to Mediterranean diet's health benefits

Tracy Briggs — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 11:30:00 GMT

MISTRAS, Greece — It’s a random Wednesday night in the middle of October. That's nothing to celebrate — unless, of course, you’re Greek. Then you just celebrate that it’s a random Wednesday night in the middle of October.

Tonight, outside the small town of Mistras in southern Greece, a group of American tourists and Greek natives dine on rich, natural foods while listening to friends play their favorite old folk tunes. When the mood strikes, some might even get up to dance.

Are we witnessing the secret to living a healthy life?

Americans have been looking for the answer to that secret for more than 50 years as we've become less and less healthy with every passing decade. Consider this: In 1950, about 10% of the population was considered obese. Today, that number has grown to about 42%. With that comes a myriad of health problems, including greater incidence of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes.

Have you ever looked at a photo of people from the 1950s and thought, “Why were these people so slender?" You can’t boil it down to one simple thing. Certainly, we’re more sedentary these days, and our portion sizes are larger. We’re more stressed out and get less sleep.

But people back then were drinking whole milk, eating bacon and slurping down full-fat ice cream milkshakes at the malt shop. Still, they didn’t seem to worry much about their fat intake until someone told them they should — and that’s when it all started to change.

Registered dietitian Megan Myrdal said back in the 1960s and ‘70s, when rates of heart disease were rising in the United States, research at the time pointed to fat as the problem.

“So, that is where we really started to see all of this low-fat eating and this emphasis on the low-fat diet as a way to try to curb the heart disease issue,“ she said. "And as research has evolved over time, we really realized that that was probably one of the most detrimental public health messages that was shared with people. Because what it did is it cut fat from the diet, and it increased sugar, salt and processed carbohydrates. And those are the things that are really damaging to our bodies.”

Myrdal is a co-founder of Foods of the North, whose mission is to celebrate, connect and empower our local food community in Fargo-Moorhead and beyond. She’s also a co-author of the book "Midwest Mediterranean," which explores the Mediterranean diet and how the diet can be adapted and celebrated in the American heartland.

“It's a very-plant based diet. So, it's really rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. And really healthy sources of fat, like the extra-virgin olive oil," Myrdal said. The diet is limited in animal-based products.

"You try to get more of your proteins from things like legumes, beans, nuts and seeds,” she said.

However, being from America’s heartland, home to so many cattle ranchers, it’s tricky, Myrdal said.

“You know, I struggle with the red meat thing, because we are a ranching and cattle state, and I personally know a lot of cattle ranchers," she said. "So, to tell people to completely remove red meat from their diet — I would never prescribe that to people in all honesty. I would say, watch out more for the processed grains and sugar than I would for red meat, because I think that that has more significant health outcomes for people."

When it comes to cutting out some grains, which grow in abundance here, Myrdal said the suggestion is not to slash them from our diets, but to rethink how we consume traditional heartland products. At the same time, we can perhaps open up markets to new products.

But change is hard. So what’s the incentive to start eating like this?

Myrdal said it's science, citing a well-known study in which individuals were given a weekly supply of olive oil to eat. It was supposed to go on for five years, but after two years they cut off the study because the research was so substantial and so strong.

“The group that was having that intervention (the olive oil) had such a marked decrease in risk of cardiovascular events. If you talk to any major... heart health professional, that is something that they always reference, because it's just one of the most impactful studies around this way of eating,” she said.

Some who have adopted the Greek way of eating say the best part is that it’s not about deprivation. They can eat what they like, but because they're eating more fat, they feel full faster, so overeating is less likely.

Proponents say it’s not just about what is on the plate, but also about changing the way people think about dining. That includes sharing meals with others and savoring the flavors as much as the time connecting to others. It’s a shift for Americans, especially for many Midwesterners who grew up with that famous work ethic to go, go, go from sunrise to sunset.

“And all the hustle and bustle and all the nonsense that we think is important. We begin to realize, 'You know what? Maybe not so much. Maybe it's OK to have an amazing dinner with friends and let tomorrow take care of itself,'” said Midwest Mediterranean co-author Peter Schultz.

This is not to say the Greeks are perfect. They have a higher rate of smoking than Americans, and as fast food starts to creep into bigger cities, their diets have taken a hit. Even they need to refocus on what works and what doesn’t.

Back home in the United States, some physicians are getting in on the action. Dr. David Clardy, a cardiologist at Sanford Medical Center and one of the co-authors of the book, has been a catalyst in getting physicians to encourage patients to use a Mediterranean diet as a preventative method to ward off heart disease. Some even leave the clinic with a book in hand. Could using food in place of or in addition to medicine help reverse the tide?

Going back to Greece gives us a little historical perspective to all of this.

For thousands of years, the fight was to get enough food to survive. Famine and starvation were the challenges, not complications from obesity. It’s only been very recently, a sliver of time in the human experience, that the developed world is fighting to manage the abundance of food around us. How can it give life and health and not lead to premature death? It’s completely changed how we view food.

“I think that in the process of trying to manage abundance, we have villainized food, and we've made food into an enemy and something that provides a lot of stress and anxiety for people," Myrdal said. “But I really think that what we're talking about with this diet — including bringing people together around a shared connected experience with food — that brings the beauty and love back to food, as well as the health, too."

In tomorrow's final installment of Forum Communications' "Liquid Gold" series, we'll take a closer look at how farmers in the American Midwest and Greece can work together to make local global and global local.

"Midwest Mediterranean" can be purchased online through Amazon or at Zandbroz and Creative Kitchen in Fargo and Ferguson Books in West Fargo.

Liquid Gold

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A different kind of oil pipeline links a Greek olive farmer and Minnesota dreamer

Tracy Briggs — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 11:30:00 GMT

MISTRAS, Greece — When winter envelops the American Midwest, as you can see your breath through your scarf and hardly feel your fingers through your too-thin gloves, it would be easy to feel like we have nothing in common with our fellow humans in the warm Mediterranean 5,000 miles away.

After all, as we crunch through the snow, skate on the ice and ask questions like, “Can you stay for supper?” or “How were the roads coming in?,” the sun is still shining in Greece. The gentle breeze over the Aegean Sea doesn’t know what wind chill is and snow boots would never be seen on its sandy shores.

And the questions they ask? Probably more animated and over cigarettes and tsipouro (an after-dinner drink handed down by 14th century monks).

While we might feel like we’re on different planets, the world is much smaller than you might think, according to Peter Schultz, an archaeologist and entrepreneur who has built an oil pipeline of a different kind from the Midwest to the Mediterranean. For 10 years, he has been importing the olive oil produced by his Greek friend Eugene Ladopoulos to the U.S.

Every October, he brings a group of Americans to Greece to see the well-known historical sites of Athens but also visit the quiet countryside — including Ladopoulos' farm in Mistras, Greece, where they learn firsthand where the rich oil is coming from.

“So, we talk a lot about farm-to-table and how important that is, and we see our tables every day. But how often do we see the farm? It's like, let's take some people who care, who love this stuff, and introduce them to the farmer," Schultz said. "The basic idea behind the trip is to create more linkage between our two communities to further cement that bridge between our two towns, and to cultivate the sense of friendship and interconnectedness."

And after all these months of Zoom calls and social distancing, connecting one-on-one in person is powerful.

“When our producer Eugene offers something to us, I think it's really exciting to actually take that gift from him by the hand. We have airplanes, we have the internet, we are more connected as a people, but I think it's nice to supplement that kind of hybrid interconnectivity with the real intimacy of human connection,” Schultz said.

At first glance, this is a story about a bridge being built between two cultures — that pipeline between the Midwest and the Mediterranean, where Schultz’s acquaintances here are helping support and sustain a farmer in Greece. Yet Schultz said this should not be viewed as an isolated case, but rather a movement of using food to bring people together.

But is reaching out to support small farmers in other parts of the world counterintuitive to the "eat local" movement that is gaining steam all over the United States? Farmers markets are bustling places as people choose to buy fresh produce from the farmer 10 miles from their front door instead of supermarkets.

Megan Myrdal is a registered dietitian and co-founder of Food of the North, an organization with the slogan “Think Global, Act Local” and mission to celebrate, connect and empower the local food community in Fargo-Moorhead and beyond.

She’s living that mission by going on Schlultz’s trip to Greece. From the smile on her face and the questions she asks Ladopoulos, it’s very clear she’s soaking up all this experience has to offer and solidifying her belief that the idea of eating local should be reframed a bit.

"One of the things that I think that this project really brings to light is that, yes, we want to enjoy and eat as much local food as we can, but there are things that we cannot grow here. And we are living at this amazing time in human history where we have this global food economy, where we can source things from all over the world that people have never been able to enjoy before,” she said.

She and Schultz said food can literally change the world.

“We have to begin to own the fact that we are part of a shared human family, and that means that my local is someone else's global, and her local is my global. These are interchangeable categories that wind and bind through each other, and the moment we come to that realization is when we can all start healing ourselves and our planet together,” Schultz said.

He said the more food-conscious a community is, the healthier the people are — and that can’t help but benefit the planet as a whole.

“The future of agriculture in America and the world is regenerative,” Schultz said. “In 30 years, we are going to be going to farms that look like the wilderness, and we are going to be empowered and emboldened and energized by their presence. And the people who run them are going to be filthy rich, and they are going to be making incredible food for the planet.”

Clearly Schultz, the entrepreneur, the pied piper of olive oil who cooked up the idea years ago to take a few Americans to the source of their food, is a talker and an idea man energized by what could be. How building relationships like the one he built with Ladopoulos can be replicated many times over by many other people. Connecting small producers worldwide to make local global and global local — in the end, shrinking our world, helping our farmers, saving our planet and maybe even our own lives.

For Ladopoulos, a Greek man with smiling eyes, it’s not that grand of a concept. In fact, it comes down to what each and every one of us can do.

Liquid Gold

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