Ever heard of blue zones? No, it’s not some new parking scheme! A blue zones is an area where the general population tends to live – and thrive – into their 100s. Some of these places include Okinawa, Japan, Sardinia, Italy, and Loma Linda, California. The Blue Zones Project is a global effort to replicate the living environments in these cities to other places, in the hopes of increasing longevity and the health of the residents. The City of Riverside recently committed to becoming a certified Blue Zones Community with the goal of longer, healthier and happier lives for its residents.
“I have a colleague who says it so beautifully, this is really a love letter to the City of Riverside,” Blue Zones Project Riverside Executive Director Erin Edwards. “This is us seeing how wonderful the city is and feeling such a pride of place and wanting everyone to roll up our sleeves to make it even better.”
What is the Blue Zones Project?
Created by Dan Buettner, a National Geographic explorer and fellow, who discovered and coined the term blue zones, the Blue Zones Project’s mission is to mimic the environment in these longevity hotspots in other cities around the world. It does this by making healthier choices more accessible to residents.
Cities that have adopted the project’s blueprint have seen double-digits drop in obesity, smoking, and body mass index, as well as millions of dollars saved in healthcare costs, according to the Blue Zones Project website. The first city to be a Blue Zones Project, Albert Lea, Minnesota, has seen a 49% reduction in healthcare claims and an increased life expectancy by three years.
Blue Zones Project Riverside
Erin says the County of Riverside Public Health Department is behind the original plan to bring the Blue Zones Project to Riverside. “[They were] really dreaming big,” she adds. “They have the audacious vision that Riverside County will be the healthiest county in the nation. And about three years ago, they were looking for models for who could help us as a county do this really well. And they came across the Blue Zones project, Community Transformation Model, and they really loved it.”
The County then asked Cities to join to bring the project to life. The cities of Riverside, Mead Valley, Coachella, Palm Springs and Banning answered, and now each have its own Blue Zones Project team and strategy document. “We’re all working toward the same purpose and the same vision,” adds Erin, “So it’s exciting because it allows for opportunities where our priorities overlap to work together and make an even bigger impact countywide.”
To become a certified Blue Zones Community, the City of Riverside launched a five-year plan April 1 of this year, kicking off the project with a community event May 17. The project has three pillars: People, Policy and Places. These pillars include strategies to change us as individuals, our environment, as well as the places we spend the most time – work, shopping, restaurants and schools. For example, for the first pillar, the project is working to help people make changes to their diet, exercise and mental health. It might be something as simple as eating more vegetables and less sugar.
But it’s not about doing this on your own Erin stresses. It’s about the community coming together to make it successful. “We also know that if we would just if we just rely on individuals to make these small changes, it can be so easy for this healthy habit to disappear,” she says. “I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced it, but I certainly have, and that’s where the Blue Zones Project recognizes that we want to make the healthy choice, the easy choice, but also the unavoidable choice.”
To do this, the Blue Zones Project committee is looking at the city systems and the environment around us with the other two pillars. “We can’t ask people to join a walking group if they don’t even have sidewalks in their neighborhoods,” she adds. That’s where the policy pillar comes in – making changes that encourage healthier living.
For the third pillar, the Blue Zones Project asks employers, schools, restaurants, grocery stores and other community organizations to join and make changes that help their employees, students and shoppers be healthier. They are small changes that leave a big impact. Places that have taken the pledge will have a blue check on their door, Erin explains. Two restaurants in the City of Riverside already have blue checks: the Riverside Airport Café, an American diner, and the Flat-O-Wrap, a vegan falafel spot. Erin notes that the Riverside Airport Café is a great example of how small changes can happen without the company losing its identity – it’s still an American diner with delicious meat-filled sandwiches named after local celebrities. But they added four healthy entrees and swapped fries in the kids’ meals with fruit.
And all those small changes will cascade into a great lake of impact.
Getting Involved in the Blue Zones Project Riverside
Many of the strategies that will be implemented in the next five years involve community events. From cooking workshops and walking clubs to volunteering opportunities and events like the kick-off party.
Erin encourages every resident to get involved! Meet their neighbors and contribute to healthy living. It starts with the personal pledge to commit to healthier living and community engagement. Then, join the upcoming running group that’s training for the Mission Inn Run, sign up for the next park clean-up or tree planting or attend a community movie screening or a cooking demonstration. Change is hard, but together with the Blue Zones Project, we can all be successful.
For more information, visit the Blue Zones Project Riverside website and follow them on Facebook.
