Dietary staples cannot fully explain where Islam expanded

Evidence

Another theory sets the limits of the Islamic expansion in terms of the olive, the cultivation of olives and the production of olive oil, a staple of virtually all cuisine in the Middle Eastern region. That idea seems even more far-fetched than the pork theory, since Islam has after all spread very extensively in lands where the olive is not cultivated or known. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 245

Categorization

• SEED: An essay contrasting environmental-determinist explanations of religious diffusion (pork frontier, olive frontier) with what actually drove conversion and expansion.