Blue Zones Project Monterey County
Salinas City Council – October 24, 2023
Blue Zones Project — Privileged and Confidential 9/20/18 Page 3 3 Blue
Zones
®
Longevity
Hot
Spots
People
Places
Policy
Blue
Zones
Project
Focus
-
Life
Radius
TM
BZP Monterey County
Project Launches
Salinas 2018
County 2020
Peninsula Cities 2020
Gonzales/King City 2021
SALINAS CERTIFICATION TIMELINE
6 June 2024
Certification
Decision
1 5
Develop Salinas
Roadmap for
Certification &
Sustainability
2 4
7 June 1, 2023
Celebrate Y4
May 2024
Certification report
content finalized +
Meet w/ LLC
July/August 2024
Sponsor
Announcements
News Release
3 8
Certification
documentation &
Sustainability plans
Week of April 22, 2024
On-site visit w/ Central
Late August 2024
Salinas
Community Event
Community Engagement
• 16,381 individuals to-date in Salinas
• CHISPA Senior Walks and Loteria
• Creekside Trails Hikes w/Clean-ups
• Clean-ups and Zumba at Soccer Complex
Grocery Stores & Restaurants
• 27 Restaurants Approved in Salinas
• 3 Grocery Stores and 1 Corner Store Approved
• Created Cooking Demo Toolkit for Salinas Libraries
• Creating BZPMC Cookbook (restaurants and resident
recipes)
• Grocery Tours, Focusing on Diabetes Education
Schools
• 20 Schools Approved in Salinas
• Support Walking School Bus Programs
• Nutrition Education for Students/Parents (Re-Think Your Drink) • Provide Capacity Building for School Gardens
• Support School Leaders in Sustainable Change
Worksites
• 27 Worksites Approved in Salinas
• Encouraging Worksites to Think About Life Radius:
Employee Volunteers at Community Gardens, Zumba
Classes at Soccer Complex, Clean-ups, etc.
• Empowering Employee-Led Well-Being Advisory
Committees
• With Partners (SVH/Montage), Provide Education.,
Classes, etc.
Food Policy
• La Michoacana corner store transformation;
partnership with ALBA growers
Double Up Food Bucks
(DUFB)
• $1,000,000 grant from CDFA; in partnership with
Aspire
• Over $600,000 in nutrition incentives available
• Soft launch at La Princesa locations (Williams Rd. and Alisal) in November 2023
• Compliments the Market Match at Farmer’s Markets
Built Environment
• Safe Routs to School Planning, Vision Zero, and Active Transportation Planning
• With community partners, working to create ParkRx program in Monterey County
• In partnership with TAMC, creating a county-wide traffic safety campaign
• Continuing to find opportunities to support activating spaces for people to gather
Partnership with Salinas
Regional Soccer Complex
Tobacco Control Policy
• Advocacy county-wide to expand smoking control
ordinances including the county’s flavor ban
• In collaboration with Sun Street Centers/STEPS,
created youth advocacy campaign for Take Down
Tobacco Day
• Continue to organize tobacco-litter clean ups
Grant Impacts for Partners:
$81 Million +
Since 2019, BZP has provided over 75 letters of support for partner organization grants county-wide.
Projects include:
• MST SURF! Bus Line (CA state and Federal funding)
• Active Transportation Grants for TAMC, benefiting
multiple communities (including Salinas)
• NMCUSD Farm to Cafeteria Program (USDA)
• Closter Park, Salinas (CA Prop 68)
• King City Downtown Streetscape Project
• City of Salinas East Alisal Beautification Project
Q&A