Tripping over health: The Blue Zones Project’s plan to re-engineer communities, one city at a time
Ali Steward, Beach Cities Health District’s director of Youth Services, cleans up a school garden during BCHD’s Volunteer Day. BCHD’s health priorities have evolved over time, from Blue Zones programs to custom plans as community needs have shifted. Photo by David A broad smile flashed across Dan Buettner’s face when he took the stage at Sherwood Hall in Salinas, California on June 26. His presentations, by this point, are well-oiled — he’s gotten good at rolling into a city and offering a plan for their residents to turn around their health. “You’re the 50th community we’ve come into,” Buettner says. “That means we’ve made all of the mistakes in 49 other communities. This time, we’ll be perfect.” Buettner’s a tall man with an athletic build, a bright smile and a gift for turning a phrase — think Harold Hill of “The Music Man,” with a bicycle instead of 76 trombones. But he’s done his damnedest to set himself apart from the usual cadre of talk-show, quick-fix health gurus. Since the 2009 publication of “The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest,” Buettner has devoted himself to the reengineering of communities so residents are tripping…
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