Not only as a food, but as a an oil for cooking. It is rich in nutrients. Can be used in massage for children/babies who cannot keep food down for nourishment and keep them from becoming dehydrated. Can be used for skin care, especially useful to add essential oils to for massage. It keeps for a year without refrigeration once opened. Sealed bottles keep longer, up to three years or more. Recommend at least half of your stash be Virgin or Extra Virgin. Store olive oil in a dark location. Too much light might cause it to turn rancid. Seal olive oil after every use. Exposure to air could cause the olive oil to lose some of its components and/or turn bitter.Recommended amount: Approximately 1-2 years supply (2- 5 gallons), extra if you have room for possible bartering. Smaller bottles are preferable, as it keeps longer un-opened. Seed oils such as soy, corn, sunflower and especially canola oil are no longer recommended. (do your own research.). I have the following olive to be of an excellent flavor! (available through Amazon.)
Mabrouka Moroccan Virgin Olive Oil, First Cold Pressed,
The following is quoted from an article by Dr. John Christopher entitled "The Olive Tree", December, 1977, Herbalist magazine.
"tree has absorbed lifeless inorganic material...and transformed them into live, organic minerals that can be assimilated in to the human body, feeding and rebuilding the cell structure..."
"is used as a solvent for extracting the healing elements from many herbs such as garlic, cloves, the mints and others. Cover the herbs with olive oil (1/2 inch of herbs in the bottom of a glass dish and approximately 1/2 inch of oil over the top of the herbs.) Set in the sun or a low temperature, 130 degree dryer."
"a student in my lecture session told how her twin daughters were saved with olive oil massage. Neither of the girls was over 2 pounds in weight and were so tiny they could not get their little mouths over mother's nipple. Both refused formulas. Their grandmother took them home and massaged them several times a day with olive oil. The mother used a breast pump to keep the milk flowing. By the time the twins were 3 months old, they were large enough to nurse."
"Another lady verified that because of a serious throat obstruction she was unable to be fed orally as an infant. Her mother kept her alive by using olive oil massages each day until her throat healed."
"This story was printed in an official A.M.A. journal in the mid-40s. A 3 year old boy had swallowed a glass of lye water years before intravenous feedings. He burned his throat so badly he could not swallow. It looked like a hopeless case. However, a family friend began giving the boy olive oil massages over his entire body several times daily. By 18 years old, the boy had never known sickness and was perfect speciman of a healthy young man even though he had had nothing but olive oil massages for 15 years. Finally modern science had developed enough to make a new throat so he could take food through his mouth."
