The pioneering goal was to change an entire community's health habits, potentially adding 10,000 years of life to this city of 18,000 residents.
All over town habits certainly changed: The Trails Travel Center truck stop put more healthful food on its menu. Lou-Rich Machines added a quarter-mile walking course through its production floor. The city plowed up 40 new community gardens for residents.
Yet the ambitious AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project, which officially ends with a community celebration today, may miss its overall mark. The five-month experiment has revealed both enthusiasm for healthier living and the difficulty of changing a town's way of life.
"We have a pretty good idea why we won't officially get our 5,000 people adding 10,000 years," said City Manager Victoria Simonsen, referring to a need for more widespread Internet access for the program's longevity calculation exercises. "But overall, this is a huge success. People are walking, they talk about food choices, they volunteer for loads of things. They're changing their lives."
This evening's celebration will be equal parts wrap-up and launching the next phase -- "to make this a permanent part of Albert Lea," she said.
The fundamental principle behind Albert Lea's makeover is that diets and exercise alone don't work. Changing health requires changing the community -- the normal rhythms and expectations in schools, workplaces, restaurants, government, grocery stores -- even within families and in neighborhoods.
So 30 kids gather at 7:40 a.m. three days a week for a half-mile "walking school bus" hike to Lakeview Elementary (where a walking track is set up for sixth-graders who are too cool to use the playground equipment). Pledging to make workplaces more healthful, 35 companies with 4,358 employees are instituting wellness committees, adding healthful snacks and examining smoking policies. Business is up by one-third at the twice-weekly farmers market. Restaurants and schools have changed to more healthful menus. A total of 992 people have taken a "Finding Your Purpose" seminar. Plus, for the first half of 2009, city government health claims were in cut half, perhaps nudged down by the project.
Blue zones for long lives