Students at Westpark Elementary had the chance to school their teachers earlier this spring. That’s when Westpark’s Blue Zones Project student ambassadors held their own cooking demonstration—educating faculty and staff about the benefits of scratch cooking and serving up easy-to-make pancakes from wholesome ingredients.
It doesn't matter which faith you choose, studies have found that people who attend a place of worship four times a month and truly feel a part of the group, live an extra 4 to 14 years. All but five of 263 centenarians in the original Blue Zones® areas belonged to a faith-based community.
FORT WORTH, Texas – Blue Zones Project® joins Central Market in hosting a community celebration as Central Market becomes Blue Zones Project Approved™. Blue Zones Project is a community-led well-being improvement initiative aimed at making healthier choices easier for people who live, work and play in Fort Worth.
Central Market will host a celebration for the public beginning at noon Saturday, May 30, at the Fort Worth store, 4651 West Freeway. Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, Texas Health Resources CEO Barclay Berdan and Fort Worth Council Member Ann Zadeh (District 9) will participate in the event.
Central Market, the destination fresh market, operates nine stores throughout Texas, and is a division of HEB, the food retailer based in San Antonio. The store offers a variety of high-quality produce and a collection of imported and home-grown products across a full-view, European-style layout. Central Market limits floor space allocated to packaged products, allowing more space for fresh produce, meat and seafood, bulk products and chef-prepared items.
Central Market achieved Blue Zones Project Approved status by completing the Blue Zones Project Grocery Store® Pledge and adopting or supporting a selection of best practices from a menu of 35 options.
Grocery stores can choose from a menu of pledge actions to become Blue Zones Project Approved, many of which Central Market already had in place. Those included offering half sandwiches in the deli, adding signage to highlight locally grown produce, selling healthy grab-and-go lunches, distributing healthy recipes, and holding food demonstrations in the store that meet the Blue Zones Guidelines for Healthy Foods and Beverages.
The Fort Worth store is implementing several significant changes such as creating Blue Zones Project parking spaces at the furthest distance from the store, using shelf talkers to call out Blue Zones-inspired foods and installing two Blue Zones Project checkout lanes that offer healthy grab-and-go snacks and beverages rather than candy and soft drinks.
“We are committed to providing our customers with a variety of delicious, healthy food options and creating an atmosphere that celebrates community, innovation and well-being,” said Austin Jourde, general manager of Central Market Fort Worth. “Blue Zones Project is an excellent resource to further our mission and we are proud to partner with this organization to make Fort Worth a healthier place to live and work.”
The Central Market celebration will feature samples of Blue Zones-inspired foods, recipes and educational materials on the Blue Zones concepts for healthy living. Music will be provided on the outdoor patio.
“We applaud Central Market for the innovation and creativity it has demonstrated to help make the healthy choice the easy choice for its customers,” said Suzanne Duda, vice president of Blue Zones Project Fort Worth. “The leadership of Central Market is a milestone in Fort Worth’s Blue Zones Project experience.”
Fort Worth is currently a Blue Zones Project Demonstration Site. Over the next four years, the city will be implementing environmental changes in six key areas, including worksites, schools, grocery stores, restaurants, individuals and community policy. Once city-specific goals are met, Fort Worth will be certified as a Blue Zones Community®.
For more information about the May 30 event, click here. For more information about Central Market-Fort Worth, visit http://www.centralmarket.com/Home.
About Central Market
Central Market’s open, serpentine-flow, full view European-style layout offers a completely new food shopping experience. A bountiful produce department with unmatched quality and variety, an extra-long seafood case stocked with dozens of fresh selections from throughout the world, hundreds of cheeses, 2,300 wine labels, 400+ beers and stupendous specialty grocery aisles with delights from every continent, plus a world-class cooking school featuring hands-on instruction are among the features that make the Central Market experience unique. www.centralmarket.com.
About Blue Zones
Blue Zones employs evidence-based ways to help people live longer, better. The Company's work is rooted in the New York Times best-selling books, The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest People, The Blue Zones and Thrive—all published by National Geographic books. Since 2009, Blue Zones has applied the tenets of the books to communities and corporations across the U.S. and has successfully raised life expectancy and lowered health care costs while bringing down smoking and obesity rates. Blue Zones takes a systematic, environmental approach to well-being, which focuses on optimizing policy, building design, social networks, and the built environment. The Blue Zones Project is based on this innovative approach. For more information, visit www.bluezones.com.
About Healthways
Healthways (NASDAQ: HWAY) is the largest independent global provider of well-being improvement solutions. Dedicated to creating a healthier world one person at a time, the Company uses the science of behavior change to produce and measure positive change in well-being for our customers, which include employers, integrated health systems, hospitals, physicians, health plans, communities and government entities. We provide highly specific and personalized support for each individual and their team of experts to optimize each participant’s health and productivity and to reduce health-related costs. Results are achieved by addressing longitudinal health risks and care needs of everyone in a given population. The Company has scaled its proprietary technology infrastructure and delivery capabilities developed over 30 years and now serves approximately 68 million people on four continents. Learn more at www.healthways.com.
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Originally posted 05/21/2014 on texashealth.org.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas Joins City of Fort Worth, Community Leaders on Blue Zones Project®
FORT WORTH, Texas — Fort Worth leaders are partnering with Blue Zones and Healthways to improve the well-being of the City’s residents, and Blue Zones Project in Fort Worth is one step closer to becoming a reality thanks to a generous $5 million Charter Sponsorship from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX). Of that sponsorship, $2.5 million is in the form of a Community Catalyst Grant to e
ncourage community participation by matching donations dollar-for-dollar. This community-wide effort will result in lowered health care costs, increased productivity and improved quality of life for Fort Worth residents.
“Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is pleased to support Blue Zones Project in Fort Worth with a $5 million Charter Sponsorship investment. We share a common goal of making the healthy choice the easy choice,” said Bert Marshall, president, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. “Half of our gift is in the form of a Community Catalyst Grant because community efforts require community investment. Our goal is to incentivize leaders in Fort Worth to raise the $2.5 million in catalyst grant funds before the end of the year. I invite others in Fort Worth to join me in supporting this groundbreaking community well-being project.”