Olives are harvested by hand each November at California's B.R. Cohn Winery. The technique for harvesting the bitter fruit may vary from orchard to orchard, but it is usually a strenuous task as workers strip the olives by hand or beat the branches with sticks. Once the olives fall, they are gathered and crushed, then either pressed or spun in a centrifuge in order to extract the precious oil.

(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Olive Oil: Elixir of the Gods," September 1999, National Geographic magazine)