Blue Zone ‘bluewashing’

Dear ER:

Unfortunately with the Beach Cities Health District, this is a case of “bluewashing” the truth [“Tripping over health: The Blue Zones Project’s plan to re-engineer communities, one city at a time,” ER Dec. 5, 2019]. For surrounding neighborhoods of BCHD, the agency has been the leading chronic stressor since the 1950s. And now, BCHD is gearing up for a 15-year demolition and construction project that will put continued, chronic stress on the surrounding neighborhoods, and especially the entire generation of children in those surrounding neighborhoods [“Redondo Beach Residents eye Healthy Living Campus plans,” ER July 18, 2019].

Bluezones.com states that stress “often called the silent killer,” can strain people’s work, school, friendships, relationships, and even sleep habits, cause physical suffering and reduce the ability of the immune system to fight off illness.

In this case, we know the cause of the stress. It’s BCHD’s zeal to expand its scope into real estate investments and spend $500 million to become a 430-unit senior apartment landlord.

With its tens of thousands of truckloads of debris, and hundreds of thousands of worker commuter trips, BCHD will plug up streets and impact both parents and commuters from 190th Street south to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Couple that with the noise, digging, demolition, vibration, dust, and toxic particulate emissions of heavy construction, and the health of the local neighborhoods is undeniably being sacrificed by BCHD for their starry-eyed real estate development lust.

It’s unfair and hypocritical of a purported Blue Zones practitioner to force a half century or more of chronic stress on its neighbors.

And in these days of quid pro quo, I can’t help but wonder if this interestingly timed, P.R. fluff piece cover story is a quid pro quo based on advertising revenues from BCHD.

Mark Nelson

ER News web comment