Blue Zones at the Organic Produce Summit

Living a long healthy life.  A goal that just about everyone can agree on, but achieving it is not always easy or attainable. Medical science is good at keeping people alive longer but quality of life often suffers as we age.

Dan Buettner, a self- described explorer, National Geographic fellow, award winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author says it is possible to live long and well - with the right combination of environmental factors.  The goal he says is to “live the longest possible life with the fewest bad years, and keeping in mind that research shows 20 percent of longevity is dictated by genes, 80 percent by lifestyle and environment.”

Dan Buettner, Noted Journalist, Author, and Discoverer of Blue Zones

Speaking as a keynote presenter at the Organic Produce Summit in Monterey, Ca, last month, Buettner brought the lessons learned from his discovery of the so called Blue Zones – societal pockets of people around the world who live well into old age. For the growers, producers, and retailers in the audience, all part of a $100 billion organic food industry based on healthy eating choices, Buettner’s research is a validation of what they do every day.

Working with a grant from the National Institute on Aging and on assignment for National Geographic, Buettner set out to reverse engineer aging – to find the places where people were living the longest and figuring out the common denominators. He and his team discovered five geographical areas that he designated Blue Zones; places where people not only live long lives, they are also relatively healthy into old age. The original Blue Zones are:  Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Icaria, Greece and Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, California.

Buettner and his researchers discovered that all of these communities did have things in common. The people are active. They don’t go to a gym to work out; instead exercise, from gardening to walking, is simply a part of their everyday lives. They have rituals that relieve stress and they lead purposeful lives. In some of these communities they don’t even have a word for retirement. For the most part beverages are simple: water, tea, coffee and a little wine. Their diet is, in large part, plant based and grown organically.

Dan Buettner engaging with the OPS 2018 crowd. 

 “They also had built in ideas to keep them from overeating,” says Buettner. “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.” In other words, they consume most of their calories early in the day. And finally, the most important factor, according to Buettner, is that all of these communities are built on a family first commitment. They keep aging parents near-by; old age is honored and they tend to belong to a faith- based community. The social connection to family and friends is strong and powerful.

Dan Buettner discusses the qualities of life that contribute to health and longevity. 

Buettner tells the story of one man who, at the age of 22, moved to America to seek his fortune. “He is a hard worker and soon he starts making money. He gets married and buys a house in the suburbs,” Buettner explains. “He is living the American dream but at the age of 66 he is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Doctors tell him he has six months to live. Instead of dying in Detroit he moves back to Ikaria in Greece. He actually moves in with his parents who are still healthy. He starts drinking the teas, eating the Mediterranean diet, and reconnecting with his religion. Six months comes and goes and although he’s supposed to be dead, he’s feeling pretty good. So, he plants a garden and vineyard and 34 years later, when I meet him, he is not only harvesting the vineyard he is making 200 liters of wine every year and drinking it all himself! When I asked about his longevity he says, ‘I guess I just forget to die.’”

Buettner says while it may sound flip, his answer hits the nail on the head.  “Where you see longevity it’s not because it was pursued,” he says, “it’s because it ensued. It is the product of the right environment.” And that includes a healthy, organic plant-based diet. For organic produce growers that is research that resonates.