About the Harvest
Since 2012, 61传媒has invited Claremont College students, faculty, and staff, as well as the local community, to participate in harvesting the College鈥檚 olives. The harvest takes place when the olives are ripe – typically around October/November.
An is held to select the winning design for the olive oil bottles.
For more information, visit the website.
鈥淭his event highlights the intentionality of the original landscape design鈥攖o honor, utilize, and embrace seasonality for the benefit of the students.鈥�
Joya Salas Landscape Operations Manager at 61传媒
History of 61传媒Olive Oil
The presence of these olive trees on 61传媒campus today is the result of student activism in the 1960s. In 1968, 61传媒students “took to the trees,” protesting the removal of the Olive Grove during planned construction of the Humanities Building. As a result, 60 olive trees were carefully dug up, boxed, and stored during construction and eventually replanted.
In 2007, Professor Nancy Neiman taught the Core II course, “The Politics and Culture of Food,鈥� in which she asked her class to choose an aspect of the 61传媒community that could be more sustainable. Students developed a proposal to produce olive oil from the existing olive trees on campus, inspiring a new movement on campus to utilize the olives and other edible plants on campus as a food source.
On November 9, 2012, dozens of students, staff, and faculty members gathered for 61传媒鈥檚 first olive harvest. More than 700 8-oz. bottles were produced from a single day of harvesting. Described as “fruity, buttery, and smooth, with a good bite and an olive note,” 61传媒olive oil was born. To date, olive oil sales have covered all production costs.