Dear Friends,

In my travels, I have brought up the concept of Blue Zones with several folks and received puzzled looks. Then I mentioned the book and found more people had heard of it. 
 
Below is an invitation to a zoom that will be all about the Blue Zones project.  There have been places reporting success on improving their health because of the program. However, other places have dropped out.  I did find the THRIVE FINDING HAPPINESS THE BLUE ZONES WAY reader’s guide, which I think can give you some insight into the program.
 
Needless to say, I believe this program needs a comprehensive look into the pros and cons before the taxpayers invest in this global health plan. Hope you are able to attend the zoom. Please let me know your thoughts and questions.
 
Grateful for you!

Here is the original invitation:

Communities across the U.S. are significantly lowering healthcare costs, improving productivity, fostering economic development and enjoying a higher quality of life through the Blue Zones Project. 

Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier, leaders from MultiCare Health System and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, and other local leaders are working with a Blue Zones team to begin a community assessment in the Parkland/Spanaway area of Pierce County. We would love to hear your thoughts about the opportunities and challenges we face in making Parkland/Spanaway a healthier place to live, learn, work, and grow. 

Executive Dammeier, Dan Buettner Jr, Blue Zones Vice President of Business Development, and MultiCare Health System, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health Partners would like to specifically invite you to the virtual community kick-off scheduled for Monday, September 27.

Register for the virtual kick-off here

With your help, Blue Zones will conduct a structured exploration of our community to build a plan for change. More information about the Blue Zones Pierce County community assessment is available here.

Q: What is Blue Zones®?
Blue Zones is a community-wide well-being improvement initiative designed to make healthy choices easier. We do this by encouraging sustainable changes in the built environment, food environment, and social networks, often suggesting policy changes throughout a community including such places as worksites, schools, restaurants, grocery stores, faith-based communities, convenience stores and neighborhoods. By helping people live longer and better by making the healthy choice the easy choice, communities can lower healthcare costs, improve productivity, access grants and funding available locally and nationally, and enjoy a higher quality of life as they live, work, learn, worship and grow.  The program is based on principles identified during an ongoing twenty-year worldwide longevity study commissioned by National Geographic, and detailed in the New York Times best-seller, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, and The Blue Zones Solution by Dan Buettner.  

Included below are links to short videos with an overview of the Blue Zones project approach and mission.

• TED Talk: Video
• Blue Zones Overview: Video
• Community Transformation in NBC News: Video
• To learn more about Danny Buettner, you can check the following link: https://www.bluezones.com/about/organization/our-team-old/danny-buettner/

We hope to see you via Zoom on the 27th!