| Description |
In 2004, Blue Zones, or places where men and women live well past 90 or 100 years of age, were discovered by Dan Buettner and his team from National Geographic. Today, there are five well known Blue Zones, as well as four Blue Zone Project Communities that can be found. The five Blue Zones are found in Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; the Ogliastra province in Sardinia, Italy; the community of Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, California; and Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula (Blue Zones, 2016). The four Blue Zone Project Communities (BZPC) in the United States can be found in three California beach cities (Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach); Albert Lea, Minnesota; Spencer, Iowa; and Fort Worth, Texas. We know what Blue Zones are, but what are Blue Zone Project Communities? According to the main Blue Zones website, these project communities are created in order to "help people live longer and better through community transformations programs that lower healthcare costs, improve productivity, and boost national recognition as great places to live, work, and play (Blue Zones, 2016). In each of the five main Blue Zones, there are nine practices (known as the Power 9) that the individuals will often follow for a more fulfilling and long life. The Power 9 practices include: moving naturally, having a purpose in life, having patterns that support a stress-free life, following a certain diet that is known in the region in which they reside, having certain social habits, belonging to some form of faith-based community, having a solid family structure and connection (Blue Zones, 2016). In this thesis, I will compare each of the five Blue Zones and talk about why Puerto Pirámides, Argentina, should or should not become a Blue Zone Project Community in the future. The primary purpose of this research is to understand what makes a Blue Zone, how certain factors play a part in determining who lives longer, and to understand why certain countries, like Argentina, have neither a Blue Zone nor a Blue Zone Project Community. Having visited Puerto Pirámides, Argentina, and interviewing and living day to day with its inhabitants, I propose that the town is the ideal candidate for a Blue Zone Project Community, and that the benefits of seeking this designation would impact the community's social, economic, spiritual and physical health. Working with sources from primary books and websites, I will create a thesis that gives insight and reasons as to how the town of Puerto Pirámides can or cannot become a Blue Zone in the future, and conclude with ways that the Argentine government and/or other organizations can provide certain changes (or in some cases, no changes at all) for a better tomorrow. |
