Klamath Falls was the first community to be designated a Blue Zones Project community in Oregon.
The Blue Zones Project is a community-led well-being improvement initiative designed to make healthy choices easier through permanent changes to a city's environment, policy and social networks.
With that in mind, Klamath Falls Adventist Church planned an eight-week community engagement series using the Full Plate Living program supplemented with short culinary medicine demonstrations, whole-food, plant-based food samplings and short spiritual applications using the NEWSTART acronym — Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sunshine, Temperance, Clean Air, Rest and Trust in the Divine.
Series participants learned about the benefits of fiber, how to recognize high-fiber foods, the importance of water and how much sugar many popular drinks actually contain.
The presentations also addressed how essential movement and exercise are for good health and positive outlooks. Attendees participated in simple activities to show how habits are formed.
Because habits can be helpful or harmful, replacing harmful habits with healthful ones is important. Series attendees were encouraged to consider their own personal "why" as an invaluable part of making healthier choices and connecting to their own purpose, meaning and spirituality.
Small groups were formed as the series continued and attendees began to connect with each other, with more than 20 participants from the church and community finishing the course.
The Klamath Falls health ministries team shares short culinary medicine demonstrations, whole-food, plant-based food samplings and short spiritual applications using the NEWSTART acronym during the eight-week series.
More than 20 people attend the Tuesday evening series.
In small groups, attendees form relationships and share thoughts.
The Blue Zones Project emphasizes the importance of creating healthy habits through education, rather than a list of dos and don'ts.
