Lola Trafecanty, director of grounds at Scripps College and sustainability chair, recently announced that the College has received good news about its sustainability efforts on campus, winning awards for its flavorful olive oil bottled from trees on campus. This year’s Scripps College olive oil entries to the Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition yielded a Silver medal in the “light, delicate” variety of olive oil, and Bronze recognition for the bottle’s label design created by Scripps sophomore Mary Alexandra “Molly” Vaughn Antell.
According to Trafecanty, the Scripps College Class of ’69 saved the College’s olive trees, which were slated for removal during a building improvement project, and the trees are now harvested for their olive oil production with student, faculty, staff, and Scripps community participation. Scripps College previously won awards for its olive oil in 2013 and 2014.
“This is a great community engagement project that brings people together around sustainability and the enjoyment of contributing to the process,” Trafecanty says. “It’s a bonus when our efforts are acknowledged for the quality of the product and the talent of our students.”