GONZALES — Blue Zones Project Monterey County recently hosted a community festival in Central Park to kick off the start of Gonzales as an official project city.
The project promotes making changes at multiple levels, from the individual scale up to the city and county scale, to lengthen and improve the lives for all within an area.
“The Blue Zones Project encourages changes in our community that lead to living a long and healthy life,” said Gonzales City Councilmember Lorraine Worthy. “From our work sites and schools, our restaurants and grocery stores, the small changes that we make today can really make an impact in the future.”
Joel Laguna, a board member of Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System for Zone 5, which covers part of Salinas, Chualar and Gonzales, spoke about the multiple booths present in the park on Aug. 28.
More than a dozen booths were set up for agencies and organizations to explain components of healthy living, whether it was compost creation, shopping habits or restaurant menu choices. There were also activities for the afternoon, including a fitness warm-up, folklorico dancing and a hula-hoop competition.
“They are here to show us what Blue Zones Project will look like in our community,” Laguna said. “We’re all taking a step closer to making a healthier community.”
Tiffany DiTullio, executive director of Blue Zones Project Monterey County (BZPMC), discussed a bit of the history, noting that the countywide project started in 2018 and launched in 2019 with Salinas before expanding. Since then, BZPMC members have worked with community leaders, businesses and organizations in Gonzales in preparation for the launch and sustaining changes that will be made.
Blue Zones Project itself began based on 2005 findings by National Geographic explorer Dan Buettner that community practices led to improved lives in certain areas.
“Our environment actually helps make the unhealthy choice easy for us in lots of ways,” said Kendra Howell, senior policy leader for BZPMC. “In Monterey County alone, 45% of residents are either diabetic or pre-diabetic. Our environment sort of encourages it. We have a lot of fast food options. We don’t get enough movement. Maybe we feel it’s unsafe to go out for a walk or ride your bike.”
Howell said the result of such an environment leads to a population where the current generation lives longer but sicker than prior generations, and the next generation is predicted to have a shorter lifespan for the first time.
“This project does not happen in a community unless we have the support of city leaders,” Howell said of the collaboration required for BZPMC to start within a community.
Gonzales City Councilmember Liz Silva spoke about some of the successes within Gonzales, from La Plaza Bakery becoming the first Blue Zones certified restaurant in town with Luigi’s working on certification, to the Sunday announcement that Taylor Farms had just been certified. She went on to note the three city schools having received certification as not only school sites but also work sites.
“We hope that you will all take a pledge to be a part of this movement that is transforming the well-being of Monterey County,” Silva said. “Together we can make our community a healthier, happier place to live, work and play.”
Worthy said she was excited to work with local schools, restaurants and grocery stores to continue the changes.
“I have noticed in the past two or three weeks, there are more people out, walking and exercising more,” Worthy said. “Because we know that if we’re a healthy community, we get a lot of things done.”
Worthy explained Gonzales has community parks and a pool open in the summer to provide access to healthy activities, and said the community center with its included gym and teen center is a large project for the city, which will lead to further access to healthy facilities.
