The Longevity Hot Spots That Weren’t
December 10, 2024 at 11:10PMYou’ve heard the stories about the villages—often in Italy, Greece, or Japan—where people live to be 100+ while maintaining their health and mobility. They’re called “blue zones,” and The Blue Zone Project aims to replicate what makes them unique in willing communities around the US. But as one researcher in Love’s piece points out, “The million-dollar question is can you really import that from one place to another?” It’s one question in a long list: Who’s paying? Will the changes stick? Is the longevity data from the blue zones sound? Are these real health interventions or a slick marketing campaign?
The Blue Zones Project describes itself as funded through private-public partnerships, but, as I learned in Iowa and Albert Lea, infrastructure changes are paid for by city funds, and governments have to approve any changes to policy. The fee pays for the advice from the Blue Zones Project, but also the branding. Earlier this year, The New York Times reported that the blue zones were being used as a “marketing tool” for a real estate development in Ave Maria, a town in Florida. One such development, a $600 million luxury tower in Miami, has a medical facility offering plastic surgery that also is adorned with the Blue Zones brand. A website that tracks realty trends reported that blue zone communities “are experiencing high demand, prompting numerous real estate companies to seek opportunities within them.”
Despite asking city officials and the Blue Zones Project directly, over and over, how much the certification costs, I was never told a straight figure. “The costs vary widely depending on population size, length of the project, sectors we will be working in,” Imatome-Yun said in an email. Because of the nature of the private-public partnerships, it’s not information that’s accessible through freedom of information requests. “I’m not supposed to talk about our financial agreement with Blue Zones,” Malakowsky said when I asked her.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2024/12/10/the-longevity-hot-spots-that-werent/
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