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Tuesday, 04 August 2015 07:00
U.S. Lawyer Returns To His Grandfather's Birth Island To Make Olive Oil
When Stratis Camatsos decided to move back to his home country, Greece, with his wife and child, amidst one of the worst financial crisis that it has and is still enduring, people thought that he was crazy. Where others saw insanity, Stratis saw opportunity, one that would combine family tradition with giving back to society. Thus, he went to work to bring to life and share with others his family’s love for olive oil.
Stratis comes from a family of farmers— his grandfather harvested olives and made olive oil, as was his father, who also returned to Greece after emigration to the United States, to pursue and continue his passion of olive farming.
“The idea was,” Stratis told The Pappas Post, “to not only bottle our quality extra virgin olive oil, but also to make a little different that would give something back to society and the environment. Therefore, I proceeded to make a social enterprise, the first Greek olive oil to do so. Our concept is that for every bottle sold, we plant a tree in a deforested area in Africa.
The result was evoᶾ, and idea of evolution, environment and experience. A love of labor which embodied history and service, evoᶾ is a story. A prefix for evolution, it is something that gives rise to the birth of a new concept, of an olive oil with a social cause.
However, the story actually begins on the island of Lesvos during World War II, where Ioannis Kamatsos, farmer and father of five and Stratis’ grandfather, bore the winters and fought off starvation to produce olive oil, his most precious commodity. He would load his oil onto a small fishing boat in the middle of the night, crossing the Aegean Sea to the mainland, evading German and Italian soldiers, risking his life for his family, to trade his valuable olive oil for enough food and supplies to keep them alive during the harsh times of the war. The oil had saved himself and his family.
His son, George Camatsos, bore his own journey, immigrating to the United States by himself when he became of legal age, trading his father’s olive trees for knowledge in medicine. After 27 years in the United States, his return to his native island brought an intense desire to pick up where his father had left off. George put every ounce of his passion to reinvigorate his olive trees and to continue producing the valuable juice of the olive. Transforming the production to organic cultivation using sustainable methods, he also continued to use the traditional methods that he had learned from his father. This knowledge is now being passed on to his youngest son, Stratis.
evoᶾ is different from the rest of the olive oils in the market, not only because of its high quality, but also because of the environmental and social cause behind it. The heart of evoᶾ is its concept. For every bottle sold, a tree will be planted in a deforested area in Africa – specifically in Ethiopia and Madagascar. These areas are incredibly impoverished, thus by employing locals to plant and further take care of the trees, new employment opportunities are also created. Furthermore, allowing parents to be able to earn a decent wage, they become able to afford to send their children to school and get an education and thereby protect them from falling into forced child labor to survive. After planting and careful monitoring, their land becomes fertile for farming with a sustainable ecosystem.
To read more, please visit: Pappas Post
Stratis comes from a family of farmers— his grandfather harvested olives and made olive oil, as was his father, who also returned to Greece after emigration to the United States, to pursue and continue his passion of olive farming.
“The idea was,” Stratis told The Pappas Post, “to not only bottle our quality extra virgin olive oil, but also to make a little different that would give something back to society and the environment. Therefore, I proceeded to make a social enterprise, the first Greek olive oil to do so. Our concept is that for every bottle sold, we plant a tree in a deforested area in Africa.
The result was evoᶾ, and idea of evolution, environment and experience. A love of labor which embodied history and service, evoᶾ is a story. A prefix for evolution, it is something that gives rise to the birth of a new concept, of an olive oil with a social cause.
However, the story actually begins on the island of Lesvos during World War II, where Ioannis Kamatsos, farmer and father of five and Stratis’ grandfather, bore the winters and fought off starvation to produce olive oil, his most precious commodity. He would load his oil onto a small fishing boat in the middle of the night, crossing the Aegean Sea to the mainland, evading German and Italian soldiers, risking his life for his family, to trade his valuable olive oil for enough food and supplies to keep them alive during the harsh times of the war. The oil had saved himself and his family.
His son, George Camatsos, bore his own journey, immigrating to the United States by himself when he became of legal age, trading his father’s olive trees for knowledge in medicine. After 27 years in the United States, his return to his native island brought an intense desire to pick up where his father had left off. George put every ounce of his passion to reinvigorate his olive trees and to continue producing the valuable juice of the olive. Transforming the production to organic cultivation using sustainable methods, he also continued to use the traditional methods that he had learned from his father. This knowledge is now being passed on to his youngest son, Stratis.
evoᶾ is different from the rest of the olive oils in the market, not only because of its high quality, but also because of the environmental and social cause behind it. The heart of evoᶾ is its concept. For every bottle sold, a tree will be planted in a deforested area in Africa – specifically in Ethiopia and Madagascar. These areas are incredibly impoverished, thus by employing locals to plant and further take care of the trees, new employment opportunities are also created. Furthermore, allowing parents to be able to earn a decent wage, they become able to afford to send their children to school and get an education and thereby protect them from falling into forced child labor to survive. After planting and careful monitoring, their land becomes fertile for farming with a sustainable ecosystem.
To read more, please visit: Pappas Post
Published in
People
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Monday, 03 August 2015 07:00
Monemvasia - A Greek Castle Town
Travel Passionate shares with us her experience of this unique Greek castle town in the Southern Peloponnese.
The South Peloponnese region of Greece has many beautiful places worth visiting. One of them is Monemvasia. At 280km from Athens, it's possible to reach Monemvasia by KTEL, the public bus network, or car - of course.
Old Monemvasia Town lies on a big rock jutting out to sea, connected to land by a small bridge. A whole town of castles, cobbled streets, mansions, squares and churches unfolds before your eyes, Inside the fortress's wall, you'll see one of the best preserved castles in Greece.
The main road starting at the entrance offers many restaurants, bars, shops and boutique hotels to choose from - all housed within preserved buildings.
In the main square, Monemvasia is dominated by an old cannon and the church of Elkomenos Christos and a 16th Century mosque that's home to the town's archiological collection.
To read more, please visit: Travel Passionate
Published in
Travel Greece
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Monday, 03 August 2015 07:00
Larissa Goes "Green" With First Wooden Solar-Powered Charging Bench
Dimitris Chaidas, an industrial designer and lab assistant at the Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly in Karditsa, Greece, has designed the first wooden solar-powered charging bench.
Chaidas’ innovative creation, having a small but powerful photovoltaic system on its roof, can charge smartphones, tablets and other gadgets through its two USB ports.
The wooden solar-powered bench, which allows visitors to rest on it while they ecologically charge their “smart” devices using renewable solar energy, has been temporarily placed at Larissa’s Municipal Swimming Pool.
To read more, please visit: Greek Reporter
Published in
Local News
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Thursday, 30 July 2015 07:00
Spanakopita Tarts With Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
A fabulous summer dish.
Ingredients
- 450g (3 cups) plain flour
- 250g chilled butter, cut into 2cm pieces
- 40g (1/2 cup) shredded pecorino or parmesan
- 2 x 240g packets small cherry trussed tomatoes
- Olive oil spray
- 1 egg
- 2-3 tablespoons chilled water
Filling
- 250g packet frozen chopped spinach, thawed
- 400g full cream feta, crumbled
- 300g fresh ricotta
- 3 shallots - trimmed, thinly sliced
- 2 tablesppons chopped fresh dill
- 3 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
- 6 eggs, lightly whisked
If this has temped you, go to Taste.com to see the Method for making this dish.
Published in
Greek Food & Diet
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Thursday, 30 July 2015 07:00
DNA Study Shows When Ancient Greeks Colonized Italy
Magna Graecia is the name of the coastal areas of southern Italy and Sicily that were extensively populated by Greek settlers. The settlers brought with them their Hellenic civilization, which was to leave a lasting imprint in Italy, such as in the culture of ancient Rome.
Now, an international team of scientists published a study in the European Journal of Human Genetics claiming that they were able to determine when and how Italy and Sicily were colonized by Greeks, through DNA analysis.
“There are scenarios ranging from a colonization process based on small groups of males moderately mixing with indigenous groups to substantial migrations from Greece and a Hellenic origin for a significant part of the pre-Roman Italian population,” noted lead author Sergio Tofanelli and his colleagues.
To read more, please visit: Greek Reporter
Now, an international team of scientists published a study in the European Journal of Human Genetics claiming that they were able to determine when and how Italy and Sicily were colonized by Greeks, through DNA analysis.
“There are scenarios ranging from a colonization process based on small groups of males moderately mixing with indigenous groups to substantial migrations from Greece and a Hellenic origin for a significant part of the pre-Roman Italian population,” noted lead author Sergio Tofanelli and his colleagues.
To read more, please visit: Greek Reporter
Published in
Greece In The News
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Wednesday, 29 July 2015 07:00
Expect A Rise In Temperatures This Week
Locals and visitors in Greece have been advised to protect themselves from the heat as meteorologists expect temperatures to keep rising this week with the heat wave pushing past 40 degrees Celcius mark on Wednesday and Thursday.
On Monday 27th July 2015, temperatures in Greece's two largest cities - Athens and Thessaloniki reached a 35 Celcius high, and on Tuesday pushed up to an oppressive 38 degrees Celcius.
To read more, please visit: ekathimerini
Published in
Local News
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Tuesday, 28 July 2015 07:00
Φύγαμε για ελληνικά! Off We Go To Learn Greek!
Φύγαμε για ελληνικά! is intended for adult learners of Modern Greek as a foreign/second language who are at an intermediate level.
As the title implies, you are invited to join us on a voyage of discovery which offers you the opportunity to practise your Greek reading and listening comprehension skills and to enrich your vocabulary.
This book can be used either in the classroom or for self-study. It covers a wide range of everyday life topics and it also provides information on various social and cultural aspects of life in Greece.
The main body of the book consists of 12 increasingly difficult thematic units. Each unit is divided into two parts.The first part includes a text or a dialogue written in simple, contemporary language followed by a reading comprehension and a vocabulary exercise. Two more exercises aim to further expand and consolidate your knowledge.The second part aims to help you to practise and improve your aural comprehension skills by listening to a dialogue or an oral text based on the theme of the unit followed by three listening comprehension exercises.To read more, please visit: fygamegiaellinika
Published in
Books
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Tuesday, 28 July 2015 07:00
Hard Rock Cafe Opens Its Doors In Athens
Τhe “authentic spirit of rock and roll” has come to the Greek capital with the recent opening of Hard Rock Cafe Athens.
Located at 52 Adrianou Street in Monastiraki, just a stone’s throw away from the historic city center with stunning views of the Acropolis, the new Hard Rock Cafe Athens is poised to become a must-see for both visitors and locals alike.
Guests can enjoy fresh, high-quality food from the bar’s Little bites menu, especially created for the Café-Bar area, including HRC Sliders, Nachos, wings and much more. Hard Rock Cafe’s food items, are complimented by an extensive, award-winning drinks menu that includes Hurricanes, Blue Lagoons, Margaritas, signature favorites and Alternative Rock (alcohol-free) beverages, all available in Hard rock souvenir glassware. Hard Rock’s cocktails are handcrafted, just like its cuisine and as authentic as the memorabilia on the walls.
To read more, please visit: Greek Travel Pages
Published in
Pubs, Bars & Cafes
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Sunday, 26 July 2015 23:22
Delphi To Bid For 2021 European Capital Of Culture
The Region of Central Greece announced that it officially supports the bid of Delphi to claim the title of European Capital of Culture 2021.
“Delphi is undoubtedly a world-class cultural monument”, a statement from the region said. “With its great archaeological, historical and cultural heritage and international recognition, Delphi clearly meets the historical and cultural conditions to deservedly be declared as a European Capital of Culture.”
The Region of Central Greece plans to establish a joint working group with the Municipality of Delphi to prepare the town’s bid in the best possible way.
To read more please visit: Greek Travel Pages
Published in
Greece In The News
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Sunday, 26 July 2015 22:37
Staycation In Athens
This is normally a week of preparing for a summer getaway – packing bags, closing windows, catching ferries… In 2015, this is not necessarily the case. Many of us are staying put this summer, it seems, to sweat away the days and nights in Athens. The post-modern stay-at-home ‘staycation’ has become the new standard in vacation hotspots! Whether you’re here by choice or by circumstance, it’s not hard to enjoy summer in Athens. With a few well-planned activities – and a jaunt down to the seaside – summer in Athens can be much more than just bearable…
So, where to go?
Marina Flisvos – a lovely destination for a family outing, with cafes and ice cream shops, facing the blue sea and the marina...
Anafiotika – this still ‘off the beaten path’ section of Plaka retains its island-esque charm, even though it seems to me that more and more tour books are pointing travelers in this direction…
Dionysiou Areopagitou – who doesn’t love to take a stroll around the pedestrian pathway that winds around the Acropolis. Grab an ice cream at Makriyanni Street, and head towards the setting sun…
Peiraiki – follow the meandering pathway around the Akti Themistocleous coastline of Piraeus – stop along the way at any of the endless tavernas and cafes, take in the blue sea and the sunshine – and burn a few calories all the way to Marina Zeas.
Thiseio & Pnyx Hill – back in the city centre, a walk through Thiseio is a walk through another time – old neo-classical houses, tree-lined streets, Agia Marina church, the National Observatory and the Pnyx Hill – this one is for the history buffs!
Monastiraki & Areopagus – for the ‘tourist within’, a stroll around Monastiraki will inspire you with equal parts history and kitsch. For the full-on history experience, climb the stairs to the Areopagus - the lesser known, but equally important ‘other’ rock, just opposite the Acropolis. A sunset cocktail at A For Athens or 360 will give you the full rooftop overview of the whole area.
Akti Tou Iliou (Costa del Sol) / Alimos beachfront – …and since Greek Summer follows certain rules regardless of where you are, a trip to the beach is required for every staycation. Hop on the tram or jump in a cab (or even on your bicycle!) and make your way to the beach. There are several nice spots along the Alimos coast – I’m sure you’ll find one to your liking.
Truth be told, there are worse ways to spend your summer holiday than a staycation in Athens. And, judging by the tour buses and throngs of sightseers everywhere, it seems many others had the same idea…
Enjoy the sunshine!
Until next week,
Jack
Published in
My Week In Athens
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