On tonight's community conversation, What factors may or what risks should we watch out for?

And what's the chance that someone watching this program might freeze before the half an hour?

And that's okay coming from the University of Leeds.

Welcome to this conversation.

Here's your host.

Good evening and thank you for joining us.

Modern day medicine.

Has helped them live a longer, healthier life.

But can we go further?

The average life expectancy in.

Me in the year 1900 was just 47 years.

Medical advancements, like the first organ transplant in 1954, the Clean Air Act in 1963, and the discovery of the leading cause of death heart disease in 1948 have all contributed to a longer lifespan.

Today, we're living longer.

The average life expectancy in the US is now 77 years, according to the 2020 census.

The state of Pennsylvania is close behind at 76.8, but the Lehigh Valley outperforms both with a life expectancy of 78.4 years.

That's according to the U.S. News and World Report, who recently published their rankings of the healthiest communities nationwide.

Looking ahead, the US Census predicts that the average life expectancy in the United States will reach 85 years by 2060.

People are already imagining what the next 100 years will look like on this community conversation, and we'll focus on what this all means for the Lehigh Valley.

The average life span grew 30 years in just a century because of changes to how we eat, work, breathe and live.

Today, the field of lifestyle medicine has emerged to help keep us in tip top shape.

Dr. Andrew Good Bread is a family physician at St Luke's University Health Network who specializes in lifestyle medicine.

He sees firsthand how those living in the Lehigh Valley are approaching their health.

There needs to be more of a.

Focus on preventing illness.

On creating a situation.

Where our community is in a good.

State of health.

So when something like a pandemic.

Or an illness strikes, you have a larger gas tank, more of a reserve.

To stay healthy through those things.

Dr. Good Bread says lifestyle medicine is evidence based decision making to prevent disease and even treat it in some cases.

It doesn't have to be perfect because perfect can be the enemy of better.

So again, when it comes to living a healthier.

Life, it's.

It's small, incremental progress over time.

So where else can we do better?

What more do we have to work on to get there?

Well, here to answer some of those questions are Kathy Coyne, an associate professor of public health at Moravian University, and Carmen Bell, the senior director of Healthy Aging at the United Way, Greater Lehigh Valley.

Ladies, thank you both so much for joining us.

Good to be here.

Thanks.

It's great to have you.

Absolutely.

Kathy, let's start with you.

When we're looking at the Lehigh Valley from a public health perspective, how are we faring?

How are we doing?

Well, I agree with Dr. Good, Bret, and what he had said that, you know, we're doing okay, but we could do better.

If you're looking at some of our basic health indicators in terms of causes of death.

We're very similar to what we see in other communities, whether it's in Pennsylvania or nationwide.

Our rates of heart disease rates of cancer are similar, with some exceptions.

Even with diabetes, which is a problem really nationwide, we're comparable to other communities, although that's been increasing in the Lehigh Valley, which is a bit of a concern.

And when we look at what are the causes of those diseases and those negative health outcomes, there are a lot of health behaviors that can be improved.

And I think which we'll be talking about later in the segment, that there are things that we can do to change our behaviors and our lifestyles to help that out.

For example, we in the Lehigh Valley don't get enough exercise.

So even though it's our rates are similar to what we see in other communities, it could be improved.

25% of us are doing exercise outside of or only 22% of us are doing any kind of non leisure activities so that we should be increasing.

And that's some of the challenges, is integrating that into our daily lives.

Other challenges are obesity and that's related to exercise as well as healthy eating.

So those are some of the things that, as we've talked about before in previous venues, we can change that.

So I'm optimistic that it'll certainly take some effort, especially and I think Carmen will be talking about this, too.

There are certain populations that are at greater risk for obesity, for smoking or smoking.

Rates are a little bit higher within the valley than they are in Pennsylvania and in the country.

But in certain segments of the population, like African-Americans, for Latinos, higher rates of smoking, lower rates of physical activity, which lead to some of these other health concerns.

Sure.

And, Carmen, let's bring you into that conversation.

When we talk about healthy aging, what does that look like and what are some of the challenges to that?

I mean, some of the challenges are, of course, we know that our population is aging.

There are more older people now, as you explained earlier, than we've had to deal with before.

They are living longer and I think and it's diversifying.

And so there's a lack of access to equitable, affordable health care.

There are barriers to getting to the doctors and getting to places and being able to afford medicine.

And then there's barriers to being able to get connected to healthy, nutritious food.

So what we're trying to do through the United Way in our age friendly initiative and our community partners is start meeting people where they are to go to the senior high rises and bring resources and information to them there, to go to the community hubs that we've established and bring resources to them there as well, including partnerships with people like Valley Health Partners to bring medical services right to where the people are already going.

Sure.

Is that what you're hearing from people at the United Way, those who are coming in to use your services?

Obviously, they have access to those services now that you're bringing them to them.

But are they are they calling for a greater need for that?

Is there a greater need for those services throughout the community to different places that they haven't been before?

What we're hearing from our partners is there's definitely a greater need.

There are more people who are showing up at food pantries because food is so much more expensive and they can't afford it.

And they look to those places that they already have a trusted relationship with.

And so now they're looking to them to bring them other services.

So maybe initially those hubs were not offering those things.

And so what we did is we came in and said, let's offer these very basic things, food, social networking, programing, access to medical care, ease of access to get here so that people don't have to go to a different place.

They can come to a place that they're already going to, and we can provide those services to them.

Sure.

And Cathy, over the years, as you're looking at public health, we heard Dr. Good Red said he said, you know, we have a B rating.

It's up from a C. Are you seeing that change?

Are you seeing the shift to healthier living here in the Lehigh Valley?

Certain populations, I think it's present more middle and upper income populations.

But I think for some of our low income populations, it's still a challenge still in some of our black and brown communities.

It's a challenge.

And it's not only access, as Carmen described, to health care, but access to healthy foods that they can get to without taking two or three bus trips, you know, busses to get there, making sure it's affordable and not encouraging people to incorporate physical activity or movement into their everyday life.

You know, walking more to more places rather than hopping in the car or hopping on the bus.

So I think those are things that we can do.

The other thing and Carmen mentioned this is the issue of social connectedness, and I know that's a key feature of these blue zones.

And we don't rate so high in the Lehigh Valley with that.

When you compare us with other communities in Pennsylvania as well as nationwide.

So how can we be improving that?

Some of the challenges and we see this really across the country that families don't live in the same communities anymore.

Your kids grow up and they either move for a job or move to go to college and they don't come back.

So you don't have that intergenerational support, which is so key for these blue zones and how we can address that in a different way.

I think that's part of the challenge for in the future, but I don't think it's insurmountable.

Sure.

I think so often people think about their health and they think, okay, well, I have to eat fruits and vegetables and I have to make sure I'm getting exercise daily.

But there's these other components to this.

It's not just exercising and eating healthy like you're saying.

It's that community aspect and that family aspect.

So you're seeing that in the public health studies.

Absolutely.

And actually, the surgeon general just recently identified loneliness as a public health concern to put more focus on that.

So figuring out how can we get people who are really busy, who may be working two or three jobs or working really long hours to spend more time together, either with their family, with friends?

How can we engender that and really make a part of what they do every day?

Not even having to think about it, not having to plan?

Well, we have to get together with these people.

It's something that you naturally do.

Sure.

And it sounds like that's where the United Way comes in bringing these programs right.

To where people live.

What are some of those programs?

So we have an initiative called Community Hubs.

And at those hubs which are spread throughout the Lehigh Valley, we currently have five and we're looking to increase to ten by 2030.

We ask that they be easily accessible by transportation, that they offer food, whether it's a congregate meal, a food pantry or food delivery.

They have special programing for them.

So that programing can be health programing like you just read fun programing.

No older adult always wants to be concerned about or talking about their health.

Sometimes you can fill that program in other fun kind of ways through cooking classes and things like that.

We also, as a medical services and be available.

And one of the primary things is that we want them to establish a social network.

What they told us at those at those community hubs in senior centers is that they come there to have fun with their friends.

And so we're trying to help build capacity around that by encouraging that, by taking them on outings to museums and other places, by talking about them vast network of parks and trails that are here in the Lehigh Valley that don't cost you anything to access.

So we're trying to make those connections.

It's like you don't have to spend a lot of money, but there are ways that you can connect to a healthier lifestyle.

Sure, absolutely.

And if folks want more about this information, they want more information on all of these programs we're talking about.

How can they get back?

They can go to our website at United Way, g lv dot org.

Wonderful.

So right on the website they can find all of that great information to connect people.

Kathy, what would you say to the community to encourage them to get out and connect with others?

What are you seeing firsthand from a public health standpoint?

Well, I do see that there's a lot going on in the Lehigh Valley, especially in our larger cities.

Carmen had mentioned the the trails that we have all over the community encouraging more people to get out those out there and use those.

We're trying to create a more walkable community.

Safety is a big issue in some of our communities.

So how can we work with our police officers to make sure that people are aware of the areas of the community that are safe for them to be walking building teams so that people can go out together?

So there are a number of things that I think the Valley has to offer.

We're also trying to create more bike paths on the road so that people can hop on their bike instead of hopping in their car.

So there's a lot of effort going on.

I really appreciate all of the work that our health bureaus have been doing in that area.

So we're on the path.

We just need to continue going forward.

Absolutely.

Kathy Coyne, Moravian University, Carmen Bell from the United Way of the Lehigh Valley, thank you both so much for joining us and for some great information.

Thank you.

Well, life expectancy has been a big topic in the Lehigh Valley lately, thanks to Blue Zones, a company dedicated to building communities where people live longer, healthier lives.

And I'm really excited to be here with you to announce the next big step in our Blue Zones journey.

Okinawa, Japan, Sardinia, Italy and Ikaria, Greece.

The Lehigh Valley could soon join the ranks of these beautiful places as the area embarks on the path to becoming a blue zone.

Short version was Blue zones places around the world that have been documented by National Geographic and Research and Dan Buettner, senior, my father, where people are reaching age 110 times the rate that we are in the United States.

Dan Buettner Jr is the chief development officer for Blue Zones, a company of the same name.

They use evidence based research to work with cities and towns across the country to improve residents overall well-being and make healthy choices easier and more accessible.

You can make your environment and your culture healthier.

You will become healthier as a byproduct.

Buettner is partnering with Lehigh Valley Health Network and the mayors of Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton as they kick off their healthier living undertaking the three cities making up a majority of the Lehigh Valley have all agreed to team up and work towards making the region a healthier place to live.

We have the support of all three mayors across the Lehigh Valley, and we've hired some of the infrastructure required to actually kick this off.

Dr. Brian Nester is the president of Lehigh Valley Health Network.

He says the project will take millions of dollars to execute over the next few years.

Lehigh Valley Health Network is funding the project along with partners, including the city center group, the Brooks Brothers, who own the Phantoms and the Leonard Parker Pool Institute for Health.

If we just kind of continuing, persisting and doing the good things that we're doing and the good things are not for profit community organizations are doing alone, that's not enough.

We need something more in blue zones is that.

There are 90 blue zones across the U.S.

But Buettner says the Lehigh Valley is officially on the way to becoming the first one in this part of the country.

We're going to hire people from Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown.

They're going to run the process to get a critical mass of schools, restaurants, grocery stores, employers, churches, synagogues, mosques.

15, 20% of people to be able to engage with this this work.

And then policy.

Initiative will start in Allentown and work in the Bethlehem and Easton.

Once a plan is in place.

We're going to concentrate here in Allentown trying to get that titrated and calibrated correctly.

So we're working with the right folks, establishing the right connections, the right governance, the right leadership, the right members from the community participating on committees.

And that big project is underway.

Joining us now via Zoom is Monica Arrowsmith from Blue Zones.

Monica, thank you so much for joining us.

You're welcome.

Thank you so much for having me.

Absolutely, Monica.

Blue Zones is an international company.

We saw some of the different blue zones around the world, but your focus is strictly on the Lehigh Valley.

Bring us up to speed.

How did we get to this point?

How are we chosen for a blue zone initiative?

Well, actually, Lehigh Valley and in particular, Lehigh Valley Health Network chose us.

And so some of you may know that we recently had last fall a lot of a lot of interest going on from our national Geographic mini series that was completed that generated a lot of interest.

But even before that, and members in the Lehigh Valley Health Network had heard about the zones and reached out to us.

And so we began a conversation that resulted in an assessment.

And now here we are actually having kicked off the beginning part of actual transformation for the community.

Sure.

That kickoff happened just about a month ago, but this has been a year in the making.

What did that assessment entail?

So during our assessment was really an assessment, evaluation and feasibility.

One of the things we always evaluate is the readiness of the community, and that really goes to the heart of the community, the will of the community to embrace change and their willingness to do what it takes to do that as well as commit resources, as you've already mentioned.

We have quite a few already who are our sponsors.

And so it is very clear because of the commitment of the mayors and the communities and the sponsors, that there's a lot of interest and a lot of already going on in these communities to generate that change.

So part of that assessment then became, okay, what are you already doing?

What are you doing well, and what do you what do we think could be done a little bit better or amplify or be able to accelerate some of the initial efforts?

And so we work within a structure that we call the life rating IT life radiant life radius, excuse me, which is really the 20 miles or so that 90% of your life is where you live, work by and and, and, and go to school, go to church, those kind of things.

Most of us do everything within 20 miles.

And so we stay within that radius.

And so when we come in and do an assessment, we actually do interviews, we do focus groups, we do windshield tours, and we're looking at things in your built environment.

We're looking at your streets and your cities and your parks and your bike paths and your walkability, all those things that would help ultimately promote natural movement.

We look at your food systems and the availability of food and healthy food in particular, and how people can access that.

We look at transportation, we take an assessment of the employers in town and the school districts, all of these environments where when we go to them, if in each one of them there is a healthy nudge, we know that people then become overall able to accept those and take advantage of those healthy options and become overall healthier.

Monica, we heard about the places in other countries that have become blue zones or are blue zones, but more than 90 places across the US have become blue zones.

What has been the key to success in these other locations?

Any advice for the Lehigh Valley?

The number one key to success is the community commitment and support and participation.

So as we move forward now that we've launched, there is a lot of opportunity for people to participate from the individual level.

We have the Blue Zones pledge that individuals can take committing to practicing and improving on what we call the power line, eating wisely, living with purpose, moving more, etc., and all the way to a steering committee that will be comprised of leaders of various industries and sectors within our community.

So really, without the community participation and the community support, we cannot be successful because it's not us.

We zones doing something to the Lehigh Valley.

It's actually the Lehigh Valley participating in the Blue Zones solution.

Sure.

And it sounds like it's not just one single thing.

It's not just switching the way you eat or, you know, taking a walk a couple more times a week.

This is everything all together, including community gatherings, getting together and being around the people you love, correct?

Yes.

That, I believe, is the power in this in blue zones and in the community.

It is not an individual initiative at a time.

It is actually kind of like attacking and each at each level of where you are.

So it's if you go to your grocery store and there's a Blue Zones aisle that has healthy choices when you check out and then you go meet your friends for lunch and there's a blue zones thing on the menu and you know, your kids are getting healthy meals at their schools.

And, you know, I can bike here now because we've done a complete streets program and I can move more and safely and more comfortably.

If you get all of those little nudges coming in, all those different directions.

That's the power of it.

It's the it's the multiple factor.

It's the ripple effect of all of those.

And then what happens is I'm hearing that I talk to my friend or my neighbor or somebody I go to church with, they start doing it and we and we multiply out beyond.

Sure.

On this level, Monica, how can people get involved?

What's the next step for community members to take part in the Blue Zones initiative?

Well, there's two things in particular.

One, we are actively recruiting for positions.

So if people want to go to our website, we actually have one that is launched for Lehigh Valley.

It's Blue Zones.

Lehigh Valley.

You put in a search for that click on that.

You'll see a pop up right away of the career of those positions that we currently have available.

So anyone's interested in a position.

There's several left, and so we'd be excited for people to begin applying for those.

The other thing is, as we move forward, we will be coming back into community, sometimes toward the end of September with a team and our subject matter experts.

They will be interviewing people from within the built environment sector, the food system sector and tobacco and alcohol sectors in particular.

And so we really want people to be able to be available and smoking here.

So you reach out from someone from blue zones or somebody is introducing you to blue zones.

We really ask that you consider participating so we get the best information and therefore together can make the best plan going forward.

Wonderful.

Monica, this is some really great information and a great start for the Blue Zones initiative.

And to earn that certification and a couple more years.

Monica Arrowsmith from Blue Zones, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you so much for having me.

Here to talk more about how blue Zones came to the Lehigh Valley is the chief physician executive at Lehigh Valley Health Network.

Dr. Robert Murphy, it's wonderful to have you.

And so this is a large investment for Lehigh Valley Health Network.

Why take on such an undertaking?

Well, at Elevation, we kind of evaluated exactly the role we serve in this community.

And for 125 years, it's been the traditional medical role of taking care of the people who are sick.

When you look at medicine as it exists now, and when you look at the needs of the community, it's impossible for us to continue that model.

It's too expensive.

And when you look at the core of what we should be doing as health care providers, the core is taking care of the sick.

Yes, but it's keeping you from getting sick in the beginning.

So there's a very there's a very poignant quote that sits in the lobby of Lehigh Valley Health Network that says medicine is the only profession that seeks its own destruction.

And so an investment in wellness is actually is actually money both well spent because it serves a mission to boost the community's well-being.

But it's also the only way that we see going forward that we can make the investment that the payers and other agencies are willing to give in order to maintain the health overall.

It's too expensive the way we do it now.

Sure.

Let's talk about that investment.

This is a five year program to get to the certification.

There's a lot of programs that need to be put into place, talk to me about the financial side of things.

How much is this estimated to cost elevation and the Lehigh Valley and what kind of supports need to be put in place?

Are there new employees that need to be hired, new programs that need to be developed, that kind of thing?

Yeah, great question.

This is this is not cheap.

So the good news is that we did this by undertaking some due diligence ahead of time and could we look in as a convener in partnership with blue zones, seriously impact the well-being of the of the valley for the investment we were going to make.

So we did a pre pre undertaking assessment in partnership with blue zones.

That really was it really was gratifying being a member of the Lehigh Valley community in that they thought that a great deal of resource and infrastructure was already in place both on the part of the health care system on the acute side, but also community investments and part of, you know, philanthropic agencies, community based agencies.

There was a lot of energy around making communities better here in the Lehigh Valley, which is something we all should be proud of.

The issue was they were siloed and money was being spent with good intent, but there were synergies that were being met that were missing.

So the idea that we thought with that endorsement was that if Blue Zones in Lehigh Valley Health Network could be conveners of all this resource and kind of bring it under a single flag, engaging municipalities engage in philanthropy with philanthropic agencies and partnering with and that it would be it would be not only feasible but a good investment.

So we set back and originally the concentration was of the project would be Allentown.

But then again, considering what we live in, the communities we serve, it's actually across the tri city area and the valley.

So blue Zones, being good partners, offered us a proposal in good horse trading fashion.

We danced around some numbers in order to be able to include Allentown as a center, but also the cities of Bethlehem and Easton in the project as well.

And so with that in mind, we were able to push all that package together in an area in a five year project that would cost somewhere in the area of about $12 million.

Sure.

So the Lehigh Valley obviously made up of three major cities.

How do we get them to work together?

What challenges do you see there?

You talk about them being siloed.

How do you kind of spread out this project across three cities, all of them working together?

Well, again, I think part of the assessment was is actually the feasibility piece and the part that makes it exciting is that we have three mayors who are are very engaged in their communities, very interested in doing something different, open minded.

That would be the health of their communities and their constituencies.

And they saw Lehigh Valley Health Network as a trusted partner.

So trust is often the biggest obstacle and and the fact that there was trust and the fact that the intent is org is good on the part of all parties made it rather easy to to engage and and form this partnership.

Sure.

And we're going to hear from those three mayors in just a little bit.

I want to ask you, though, how do you see this impacting health care across the valley in the next five, ten years?

So I think it's, I think, exciting both for the implications of the valley, but also beyond the valley.

I think it's fair to say that L.A. and and and the inhabitants of Valley thinks this is a very special place, is also is very representative America, middle America.

So, you know, when the elections are being held, whether they turn to they turn to the 15 congressional district as being a bell ringer for four trends.

And so I think that says a lot about our status both as a community and ourselves, but also representing the country.

So what's exciting about this is, is there's a couple different aspects of of the of the signs to blue bells to the blue zone.

And there's and is partnership with a data driven health system and it's based around safety and environment.

It's based around food and is based around community engagement.

And with that, there's there's certain things that are that stand out in the medical community, what used to be called about social determinants of health, such as housing security, food security and the like.

So by being able to bring all that together in the way that Blue Zones has had some success before, but actually changing the formula a little bit such that we stamp our own little imprimatur on it.

So what we're doing on the health system side, besides helping to underwrite this, is we're taking the resources we have and we're looking at how to partner better with the downtown school district.

Give give kids hope that there is a pathway forward with the mayors as far as the communities environment.

So if you can get people to feel stable in their homes, then they won't be transients.

Communities can become more robust.

And then finally, the thing that we are very excited about is as part of our partnership with the Blue Zones, we have engaged a a professor of economics at Art at Oxford who has developed a well be metric, which is how you define community wellness based on Gallup poll information.

What we want to do is we want to bring that together with a community based metric that would actually do two things.

We want to be able to allow us to measure the progress over 5 to 10 years.

Sure, with some science, but also could also translate if you if you reverse engineer that into a metric that the community would help define what they thought their needs were in a manner that mayors or or state senators or the like would be able to help direct resources, both financial and otherwise, in a way the community thought would be most beneficial.

I think that's very exciting.

And where that becomes something that's really kind of a project that has community implications.

But imagine if you can define that, how to keep people well, keep people out of hospital, only spend people in acute care setting when they need it, but also be able to have the science around it that you could take the model that we develop here in the Lehigh Valley and transport it to Gary, Indiana, or Duluth or Shreveport, Louisiana.

That's the exciting thing about having a long term engagement in partnership with with an agency such as Blue Zones, which has both a national international reputation.

Sure, we could be the example.

I'd like to say that we are in many ways, but this would this would really take it to a higher level.

Sure.

We talk about the commitment of about five years to get the certification for blue zones.

Is there a commitment past that five years when it comes to funding and support for this program?

Well, I mean, it's it's again, a data driven, data driven project.

It's five years for how we've codified it now.

So certification, downtown activation for Bethlehem and Easton, the hope would be that we find sufficient benefit to the community and continued support on the part of the community to make that roll into another version farther down.

To be honest, I've already had conversations with my colleagues at Thomas Jefferson University who see us as being kind of the tip of the spear in a way with community investment involvement and are very interested in this.

So the possibilities of given our relationship with Thomas Jefferson as of just a couple of weeks ago has all sorts of implications, again, to take this this this formula that we're trying to develop here in the Lehigh Valley, potentially make it regional, but hopefully make it translatable into a national model.

Sure.

I know it's so early in the stages, but it really sounds promising.

As always.

Dr. Robert Murphy from Lehigh Valley Health Network, thank you so much for this information and joining us.

Always a pleasure, Brittany.

Thanks so much.

Absolutely.

And the Blue Zones initiative will start in Allentown, but eventually branch out to the neighboring cities of Bethlehem and Easton.

But there are already healthy living opportunities across the Lehigh Valley.

We met with each mayor to see what their city is doing to help their residents live longer.

Blue Zones Easton has joined on with the other cities, Allentown and Bethlehem.

Why did you think that this was something that Easton should be a part of?

Well, I think everybody can be healthier.

Americans are not very healthy, so everybody can be healthier.

And I think the Blue Zones initiative will help.

I think the current state of Easton is very, very good.

And the fact that we have the nation's number one farmer's market in a city where people still get their fresh fruit produce and we do farmers working out in the west, we're now on Wednesdays and it's amazing how many kids Dark Corners group was grown in cans.

They didn't know that there was an ear of corn that was actually stripped and then put into cans and processed.

The other thing that we need to do is zoning so that more services locate within the neighborhoods, make our neighborhoods a better places for people to access grocery stores, pharmacies, dry cleaners and all those things we don't have to drive to.

And I think that's really important.

So your dad's 97, What's his trick?

I think his trick is that he he watches what he eats.

He's he's happy.

Taking it easy.

He's taking it easy.

And because he worked hard all his life and it was a butcher, so he carried 250 to £300 carcasses on his back and he exercised.

And blue zones are really a continuation of all of the great work we've been doing here in the city for a couple of decades now.

We've been focusing on how do you build that type of modern, healthy, urban place like our community and I think that one of the things that Blue Zones does is it also builds that idea of community.

It taught you talk about public health, but blue zones are also about bringing people together.

Part of our long term health comes down to our friendships comes down to the groups were a part of is how do we kind of shorten that distance between us we're cleaning out for music Fest.

We've been celebrating here on paper applause in the last couple of years, bringing one of the plots back here to right outside of City Hall.

But at some point you got to clean it up.

And I always say Music Fest is like a ten day commercial for Bethlehem because it's that vibe about when everybody comes together and Music Fest is bigger than all of us.

So the ability for us to come together, to spend time together, to listen to music, to meet with old friends, to meet new friends, I mean, that's really that kind of success formula that we have here in Bethlehem.

And that's something that has always been a part of our history and is going to be part of our future to what means is that we'll have a framework to have a conversation, a community conversation about things that we can do to live better, healthier lives and longer lives.

Take a look around.

We are in good shape.

We are a walking city.

When I was campaigning, I ran every street in the city of Allentown.

I ride my bicycle everywhere through Allentown.

I like to just get out and see our city.

On the ground level, I think that's one of the best things about walking and biking is you move a little more slowly, you get to see this amazing place and you get to engage with the incredible people here in Allentown.

So I love it.

So we like to lead by example.

Known in some places as the marathon mayor, I'm an active runner.

I like to ride my bike to work, walk to work.

I encourage healthy activity.

It doesn't have to be a marathon.

It could just be a simple walk around the block.

But it's good for you.

It's good for your heart.

It's good for your head.

It's good for your neighborhood.

It was great to hear from all three mayors about how they're making their cities a healthier place and to make a healthier valley happen.

Different areas of the community must come together as one.

So joining us now in the studio are Nadine Clapton from Rodale Institute, Scott Slingerland from the coalition for Appropriate Transportation, known as Kat Megan McBride from Buy Fresh Buy Local of the Greater Lehigh Valley, a program of the Nurture Nature Center.

And Jennie Garcia from Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley.

Thank you all so much for joining us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Nadine, let's start with you.

This group is a group of people who are here because all of their organizations kind of fit into the blue Zone initiative, whether they're partnered yet or not.

You folks are working towards a healthier valley.

So it.

RODALE how are you doing that?

What are some of the programs in place?

Yeah, thank you for having me here today.

Rodale Institute We really focus on advancing regenerative, organic agriculture.

So we do that through research, education, through science.

We're looking into the differences between our conventional and organic agricultural systems and how they have benefits for soil health, for human health, and ultimately for planetary health.

Wonderful.

So how can the community get involved at Rodale and some of that with some of the things that Rodale offers to contribute to a healthier Lehigh Valley?

So at Rodale Institute, we engage in community health through our farmer training program.

We're literally training the next generation of organic farmers, and that can have a wide array of benefits from economic development to creating job opportunities.

Many of those have gone on to become farmers right here in the Lehigh Valley.

We're working to create incubators for those farmers, and we're also working alongside our public health institutions, alongside hospital systems.

We have an organic hospital farm at St Luke's University Health Network, at their campus, at the Anderson campus, and we provide fresh vegetables and fruits to patients in the hospital.

Employees have access to that through their CSA and outside of our St Luke's campus, we have a suite of consumer education offerings as well, so you can check us out at Rodale Institute dot org.

We have a whole bunch of workshops that take place through the year and a bunch of online offerings as well, but we're grateful to be alongside all these wonderful folks and engaging in community health work in the Lehigh Valley.

Absolutely.

Rodale has.

I think we could be here all day talking about all of the programs, the wonderful programs that help people eat healthier in the Lehigh Valley.

So thank you.

And I want to bring Scott into the conversation.

So how does Catt contribute to making the Lehigh Valley just a healthier place to live, work, play?

Thank you.

Work has been around for 30 years.

Our goal is to educate, empower and advocate for bicycling, walking and public transit in Lehigh Valley.

So we try and empower families to bike and walk.

More individuals, whether they bike out of necessity or for recreation, but to use these modes of transportation to get around and, you know, sometimes live without a car, sometimes live with a single car for a household ways to really offer physical health and community health like social interactions.

When You bike around your neighborhood when you walk.

We have programs where we do bike safety in schools with kids.

We have programs where we offer bikes to adults who have no other means of transportation They can get a bike for for no money, and they can also participate in building the bike.

We have group bike rides this weekend.

We actually have a women's bike overnight that's going on a camping trip.

And so lots of different programs.

And we have committees, We have a public transit and a pedestrian safety committee are always looking for volunteers as well.

Some really wonderful things happen.

And we even saw the mayor riding his bike just a few minutes ago.

All three mayors had talked about how important their bike trails are to the city.

Is that part of your initiative?

Is that is that something that you see as vital to making a city grow and be prosperous in in the health world?

Yeah.

So an advocacy.

We see so many municipalities, 60 municipalities and early Valley, and they're all a lot of them working on different plans to improve the trail networks, to connect neighborhoods and and jobs, to connect neighborhoods and, you know, shopping or parks or other destinations around and rides to farmers markets, that kind of thing.

Yeah, absolutely.

It sounds like you're doing a lot to get people out there biking, walking, commuting to work in a different way other than using their vehicle.

Wonderful.

I'd like to bring in Meghan.

Meghan, thank you so much for joining us.

So what does your organization bring to the table in terms of what the Blue Zone initiative is trying accomplish?

So by first by local is committed to connecting consumers to local food sources in the Lehigh Valley and beyond.

So we're really excited about this opportunity to increase our voice.

We work on supporting local farmers.

We work on educating folks about how their food is grown and the benefits of buying and eating local organic foods.

So the whole plant based initiative of blue zones fits in perfectly with with our mission, our work on food access programs, getting people connected to their food and food advocacy.

You know, it's just really a lot of what we do is about promotion.

So we really see the blue zones as a way to, like I said, help us kind of raise our voice in the community.

Absolutely.

And the mayors, both all three of them have mentioned at the farmers markets that we have throughout the Lehigh Valley.

They're second to none.

Getting that food to those different points.

What do you see as a challenge there?

Getting the food to different people?

You know, we have those farmer's markets, but what what can we do better to get food to people, especially in food deserts like Allentown?

Yeah, I mean, we have 13 plus farmer's markets in the Greater Lehigh Valley, and transportation is always a big sore spot for getting folks to those places, just making just the awareness of them as well.

And also, there's a lot of farmer's market nutrition programs that people can take better advantage of for people that are at risk.

And, you know, these are all just ways of improving your health by connecting you to these foods.

So I think that, you know, we really see this as, you know, a big avenue of supporting farmer's markets, which are one of the, you know, the major healthy community gathering spaces.

So it's not just about the healthy food, but it's about the community that they talk so much about in blue zones.

So to me, farmer's markets are kind of like blue zones all wrapped up into one beautiful, healthy park.

And so we're talking about all this food.

It's making me hungry, but some wonderful programing buy fresh, buy local.

And I want to bring in Jeannie here from Promise neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley.

And so it's not just all about eating and exercising, but there's a community component to all of this.

Absolutely.

And promised neighborhood has taken a big leap even prior to the feasible study with the blue zones in Allentown.

We we have a pilot program and we partner with Allentown School District, Second Harvest and Community Action Development.

We created a wellness center that also provides healthy foods for community members.

It's what they asked for in the assessment.

So we can take these assessments.

We got it.

We got to pull together and make sure that we're giving the community what they want.

It's a pilot program where it gives you your dignity.

You can order it online and order ahead that work.

You pick the food you want best for your family Allergies, gluten free, organic fruits and vegetables are there that you can choose from something that traditional pantries, food pantries don't have.

And also, we know you're coming for food.

There may be some other resource sources that we can provide for you, which is very important.

We also have a Promise Corps.

We took a group of people, kids, youth from the community, and we partnered with the City of Allentown to provide a space for a community garden because we know that what you plant and what you see, what you plant, the seeds you plant and you see grow, it makes you more interested in taking for it and nurturing, nurturing it, and it gets you closer to the healthy foods.

Sure.

Jeanie I was just going to say, if you can elaborate a little bit more about Promise Neighborhoods and what they do.

I know that that's just one aspect of everything you do.

Just if you could sum it up, I know we'll be here for a while, but if you could sum it up for some of the other programs that you do as well.

Absolutely.

Our pillar programs, our leadership without limits, race and health equity, violence prevention and reentry and leadership without limits.

Those are our pillar programs.

And it all ties in to the blue zone, because if the community is healthy or has healthy options, they live longer.

Absolutely.

A huge part of blue zones, like I said, is not just the eating or exercise thing.

A little bit more.

Quality of.

Life.

Exactly.

It's bringing people together.

And that seems like that's what Promise Neighborhoods is doing.

What do you see some of the challenges being as we move towards this blue zone certification, the Lehigh Valley?

We've had this assessment.

They said, you know, this is a great place to try to become a blue zone.

So what do you see as a challenge as we try to reach that goal and get that certification over the next five years?

Just connecting the dots from the different organizations like yourselves.

So put us all together to see where we fit in, to reach the community.

Because if the community doesn't know that it's there, they don't get access to it.

So we are community based grassroots.

We have a live, relatable experience.

I can walk into a community and feel comfortable discussing the blue zone projects and people will interested.

Sure.

And Scott, I saw you shaking your head.

I want to elaborate a little bit about that for you.

Connecting the community not just through human connection, but literally connecting them when it comes to bike paths and walking paths and that kind of thing.

What kind of challenges do you see in our transportation system right now that we need to work out those kinks to get to a blue zone certification?

Yeah, I think to get people moving, we need a culture shift.

Like, people love their cars or they're, you know, just comfortable in their cars and cars are expensive.

Cars take up a lot of space.

They create, you know, challenges of air quality and quality of life, as you mentioned.

But so kind of shifting the dynamic where people have options.

It's a big step, right?

A change of mindset to kind of normalize other options like walking to work or riding land, to bus, you know, to get to work or even the first and last mile.

You know, we call it a triathlon.

You know, it's not a race, but it's a way to use different modes of transportation depending on the day and where you're going.

Sure.

Do you think that a culture shift needs to happen in the workplace as well, giving these people tools to get to and from work without riding maybe a bus or driving their car?

I mean, definitely where the jobs are growing are the warehouses.

And, you know, the reality of it and, you know, bus routes that get get to there or, you know, people working in restaurants and they get off at midnight if they're running a bicycle, they you know, they should have lights and their bike and all the support they need to to have a healthy transportation.

Can I can I jump in?

Absolutely.

So the component here to make quality of life in the city of Allentown in these blue zones is safety as well promised neighborhood with our you know, our gun violence prevention program.

We want individuals in the community feel safe.

They're not going to ride their bikes through a pathway.

If they don't feel safe, they're not going to enjoy the beautiful parks.

We have so many parks in the city of Allentown, I think 40 parks we have.

If they don't feel safe, they won't be able to go out and enjoy them.

So we do really have to work collectively to bring this message to the community and let them know the parks are safe, the trails are safe.

Access to food, safe food.

Absolutely.

Jeannie, that's a really good point.

And they you're shaking your head.

Is it a culture shift when it comes to eating organically and planting your food right where you live?

Yeah, I think, you know, there's kind of multiple approaches to it.

It's really thinking about organic food.

You have to also ask the question, how do we work in partnership with organizations that are making it accessible to folks?

But really, when we at Rodale Institute think about food, we think ecological health is not separate from human health.

Soil health is not separate from human health.

So when we're thinking about what does community health look like, what are some of the challenges that folks face when we go even into our rural communities, when they're adjacent to conventional growing operations, You know, whether that's corn, wheat or soy, commodity crops, they're being exposed to the pesticides, to the herbicides, fertilizers that are being sprayed on these chemicals, and then these foods make their way into the community.

And that is where folks end up having access to.

So it's about kind of the freedom of choice, the freedom of having access to quality organic foods that are more nutrient and thinking about the blue zones.

You know, it's such a beautiful opportunity to bring nutrient dense food into the communities of Bethlehem, Allentown, EASTON And so by prioritizing, you know, how can we actually work with folks who are local farmers to put dollars back into their pockets because they're growing diversified fruits and vegetables, they're reducing the environmental impact and then shortening the supply chain, so less having to ship into the area, less air pollution, which I know is something that is quite a sensitive topic in the Lehigh Valley and something we're all working to to figure out how to how to combat.

And we're actually partnering with Brian Holland at Lehigh University for air quality testing and putting canisters here in our community, especially in the first and six ward to show the community we care about you.

We want to test the air that you're breathing in.

And once we build that trust, then we can talk about other programs.

And they're like, okay, you care about our air that we breathe?

Yeah, absolutely.

Building that trust, I think that that's so important.

Megan Nadine had a good point where she said bringing those rural communities into the more urban communities, we have such a vast landscape here in the Lehigh Valley.

We go from very rural to right down to the center city, Allentown.

So how do you connect that in terms of getting food to the different areas?

Yeah, I mean, we're really fortunate to have so many farms just surrounding the Lehigh Valley here.

And like Nadine said, you know, the importance of regenerative agriculture and getting the right food and the healthy food to people is something that we're really focusing on getting farmers to transition to regenerative agriculture, providing that education.

And as far as, you know, the nutrient dense food and the healthy food, I love the aspect of blue zones in terms of the menus at the restaurants, the blue zone menus.

And I think that's a way that we can connect our farmers, gives us another avenue to connect them to restaurants and chefs and getting their food.

So it's kind of like taking the Blue Zones plant based approach to the next level with having it be local and regenerative, fully grown food as well.

So I thought that was a great point to write on the menu.

Blue Zone.

I love that idea.

And before we go, I want to give each of you the opportunity to let the community know how people can get involved.

That's a big part of this.

Bring everybody together and kind of working as a team instead of individual silos.

And so, Megan, how can folks get involved and buy fresh buy local so.

They can certainly reach out to us through our website at by local JL Viacom or the Nurture Nature Center dot org, The nurture Nature Center is specifically focused on environmental changes, climate change and environmental sustainability.

So there's so many initiatives going on there, and we really feel that through nurture nature and by first buy local, you can't have and healthy individual without a healthy environment.

So there's a lot of volunteer opportunity.

These whether it's outreach in the community, whether it's helping us with educational programing many ways to be involved.

Very cool.

And Jeanie, how about you How about for Promise Neighborhoods as well?

How can people get involved?

How can they volunteer or take part in some of the initiatives you were talking about?

That's right.

Come visit us.

We're right there at the the corner of first, the corner of Martin Luther King and American Parkway.

Our phone number is 610351428.

Come join us for a peace walk.

You want to get this information to the community, Come join us for a peace walk every Saturday, every last Saturday of the month.

It will give you an opportunity to talk to people in the community.

Some connecting people.

And Scott, how about that?

Lehigh Valley?

Sure.

Our website is Elvie Kat Dawg.

I would also encourage, you know, people to do something in their own neighborhood.

You know, they don't have to do it for us, but they could do it for the community, you know, whether it's picking up litter, taking a walk, you know, getting out and connecting with their neighbors and and strengthening the, you know, the social networks.

Sure.

Break out that bike.

And so people can also volunteer a bicycle co-op work from four days a week.

They can donate an old bike or come in and, you know, help out, build a building with somebody else.

I love that idea.

Bring your expertise and help build a bike for someone else.

That's wonderful.

No experience required yet.

There you go.

You can learn on the job.

Wonderful.

And they.

Dean, how can folks get involved with Rodale?

Yes, You can check us out at Rodale Institute dot org.

We have a whole suite of resources available there from weight papers to free online courses that you can take to learn more about regenerative organic agriculture or to learn about organic gardening and really to build off of Scott's point.

I love the idea of just going out and getting to know a farmer.

Go to one of your local farmers markets like the ones that the Nurture Nature Center is involved with them.

Buy fresh, buy local and get to know a local organic farmer.

Talk to them about why they do what they do and and support them.

And we also have a few different offerings around the topic of regenerative health care.

So we work with health care providers, with wellness to teach them about food as medicine and the importance of how our food is grown.

So if you're a health care provider, I strongly encourage you to to get connected us and see how we can be of support.

This comes full circle to lifestyle medicine.

Thank you all so much.

These wonderful ways that people can get involved with just creating this healthier community.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

And that will do it for this community Conversation Path to a Healthier Valley.

We want to thank all of our guests for joining us and you for watching from all of us here on PBS 39 and Lehigh Valley News.com.

I'm Brittany Sweeney.

Have a good night.