PENADES

Uprooted explores not just the complexities but also the new possibilities of the olive oil industry in Spain. The first outcome of this ongoing 10-year project investigates the potential of the part of the tree that grows below the ground instead of the ones above.

The project unfolds in three different phases. The first one, spanning from 2015 to 2021 and carried out in various stages, focused on a deep research into the olive oil production systems in Andalucía — the region I was born and raised in and the world’s largest olive oil producer, responsible for over 20-25% of global production and 80% of Spain’s output.

The research uncovered the extreme industrialization of nature, particularly the shift from traditional manual olive harvesting to super-intensive methods. In this modern approach, trucks grab and shake the trees but a minimum distance between olive trees from 5m to 7m is necessary to operate around them. The consequence? All native native species have been uprooted and replaced with new olive trees planted in optimized grids for highly efficient harvesting.

A notable finding: most of the native olive tree roots are left behind due to their complex characteristics of this particular type of wood. The knots, embedded stones, diverse shapes, and unpredictable density pose a significant risk of damaging machinery and makes more difficult the manufacturing process. This natural complexities prompted a broader question about how materials are often manipulated to conform to industry standards, frequently overshadowing their intrinsic qualities. As a result, in Andalucía olive tree roots often end up being sold as firewood for around 0,10€/kg. Actually we have a popular meal in Málaga called ‘espetos’ which consist on any type of fish or seafood clamped in canes and then cooked by sticking the rod into the sand next to a bonfire made with olive roots.