Interfaith Neighbors leaders have had a seat on the City of Asbury Park Mayor’s Wellness Committee since its inception in 2017. This year (2024), our BHEC Coordinator, Karyn Moskowitz, is the committee’s chair.
The City of Asbury Park Mayor’s Wellness Committee is established annually by resolution of the City Council. The purpose of the Wellness Committee is to provide a community initiative to champion healthy and active living within the City of Asbury Park and improve overall health within the community.
This year, the committee has launched the “The Blue Bishops Living Well Initiative,” which draws from lessons learned from the Blue Zones Movement. Blue Zones are defined as places where people tend to live longer, healthier lives on average. The inspiration behind this initiative was the Netflix series, “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones”, where five cities around the world are highlighted for their healthy lifestyles and long lifespans.” The documentary motivated the committee’s leaders to see if Asbury Park could explore and replicate some of this. In our community we are looking to grow awareness and understanding of how to live healthier and have fun while doing it.
The term, “blue zone,” was first coined by Dan Buettner, a National Geographic Fellow and journalist, during an exploratory project he led in 2004. After an expedition to Okinawa, Japan in 2000 to investigate long lifespans there, he set out to explore other regions of the world with reportedly high life longevity. Okinawa was deemed the first “blue zone,” and was soon joined by Loma Linda, CA, Sardinia, Italy, Ikaria, Greece, and Nicoya, Costa Rica. Ultimately, Dan and the team of demographers and researchers found that all blue zones share specific lifestyle habits, which are called the Nine Principles (read more about Blue Zones here).”
The Mayor’s Wellness Committee community leaders researched the blue zones principles and encourage Asbury Park residents to follow these four for a happy and healthier life:
- Move Naturally: How can you move your body more often? (Example: Take the stairs instead of the elevator.)
- Eat Plant Slant: Eat more veggies, fruits, beans and whole grains that will help you feel better each day.
- Find Your Tribe: Surround yourself with people who want to improve their lives and to help you stay on track.
- Join a Faith-Based Community: Find an organization that helps you spiritually to enrich your life.
As part of this initiative, the Mayor’s Wellness Committee is partnering with Professor Jack Harris from Rutgers University and his Sustainability Minor students on a project called, “Building Social Impact Networks for Food Access and Security.” The students will assess the state of the Asbury Park food system in terms of health and equity. The hope is that residents will become inspired to improve their quality of life.
The Mayor’s Wellness Committee is excited about the prospect of turning Asbury Park into a blue zone! The Committee believes that partnering with the community to support everyone in living a healthier life and living longer will increase happiness and wellness overall within Asbury Park. Citizens are encouraged to come to one or all of the Wellness Committee’s upcoming events. Here’s to making Asbury Park a blue zone and to longer lives!
Some examples of Blue Bishops Living Well events included:
- WALK, CHAT, LEARN & EAT where residents met up at Springwood Park and walked together (1 mile total) to MOGO on historic Cookman Avenue for a delicious, free plant-powered meal and hear the owner, Sam Chung, talk about his famous kimchi and the secrets of preparing delectable tofu.
- AP Grows, We joined Home Drug Store, Kula Farm, and the Asbury Park Library at Home Drug Store’s 810 Main Street location to learn how to grow food to eat! We provided the planter, soil and seeds, and caring instructions for everyone’s very own tiny container garden. The Asbury Park Library was there to promote its upcoming new Seed Library.
- SNAP with Asbury Fresh. Walk to the Asbury Fresh Farmers’ Market. A short talk and introduction on how to access fresh local produce, honey and bread with your SNAP Benefits, and WIC and Senior FMNP Vouchers.
- Farm without Borders: We joined Jai at Play to present Asbury Park’s very first Autism Friendly, Healthy Eats Workshop at Interfaith Neighbors’ Farm without Borders. We walked around the urban farm, learned to identify edible produce, tasted what is in season, and picked some to take home.
- Save the date! Saturday, September 21st AP Alive returns for a day of car-free recreation. Join Interfaith Neighbors and Jai at Play at Sheffield’s Market at Bangs and Prospect for food games and healthy snacks, from 12:00 Noon-3:30 PM.
Stay tuned for other events by subscribing to the City of Asbury Park newsletters here.
Organizations involved in the Blue Bishops Living Well Initiative include Interfaith Neighbors’ BHEC Initiative and Kula Farm, the Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County, Professor Jack Harris (Rutgers University), Melia Bloom, Westside Citizens United, EZ Ride, Hackensack Meridian Health, HollyWell, KYDs, The Asbury Park Library, City of Asbury Park Social Services, VNA, Asbury Park Housing Authority, and Home Drug Store.