Mediterranean Agriculture

What products are distinctive to Mediterranean agriculture?

Answers:

• chestnuts, almonds, walnuts; wine, citrus fruits (oranges and lemons), wheat (used for breads, pastas, etc), cork, goats, and sheep
  Portugal and Spain are the world's principle cork producers; Portugal accounts for 55 percent alone. About 25 billion corks are used each year! The Mediterranean climate is ideal for cork trees. The thick bark takes 40 years to develop, so the wine in almost all wine bottles is much younger than the cork!

• Spain and other Mediterranean countries receive financial support from northern industrial European Union countries.

• What we think of as Mediterranean food has complex geographical origins:
  olives and garlic were brought by the Romans; saffron, black pepper, nutmeg, lemons, cane sugar, and bitter oranges came from Arab conquerors; sweet oranges were introduced through Portugal from China; chick peas came with Carthaginians; and only with the Europeanization of the Western Hemisphere did Spain first enjoy potatoes, tomatoes, pimentos, and chocolate.
  Source: S. Delamont, Appetites and Identities. London: Routledge, 1995.