Blueberry Matters

Each year in mid-July, our state has a community blueberry festival. That reminds us that July is the blueberry month. It is the best time of the year to harvest blueberries in Northern America.

Blueberries are usually grown from April to September across several colder planting zones. This tiny fruit is categorized by its height, the low bushes (about 1–2 feet) grows on planting zone 3 to 6, the half-high bushes (about 3–4 feet) grows on planting zone 3 to 5, and the high bushes (4–7 feet) grows on zone 4 to 7.

Blueberry is well known for its rich antioxidant content, which brings many health benefits to our bodies. Yet, only a few people know that the popularity of this tiny blue fruit is from a public-private partnership effort.

In the 1890s, Ms. Elizabeth Coleman White, a daughter of a New Jersey’s local cranberry farm, began interested in cultivating wild blueberry. Later in the 1900s, with the help of a USDA botanist Dr. Federico Coville, their blueberry production became successful and commercialized. During its first boom in 1942- 1962, blueberry cultivation spread across America and appeared in 13 states.

While fascinating in Ms. White’s inspiring story, blueberry’s rich micronutrient content and various blueberry festivals at nearby pick-your-own farms reminded us of a WELL feature.

“Strategies to increase fruit and vegetable consumption include behavioral interventions, such as increased availability and visibility of fruits and vegetables, pricing incentives to lower the cost of fruits and vegetables and promotion and support of community gardens and urban agriculture initiatives.” — WELL N01, Promote Fruit and Vegetable Visibility

On Blueberry Day, we design this card for those homemakers, thanks to them looking after homes and make fruits and vegetables so available at our kitchen tables.

---

By the way, if you are curious more about Ms. Elizabeth While, a webinar “Through Elizabeth’s Eyes” provided by Pinelands Commission will be a great resource to satisfy your big learning appetite.

Fitness Matters

Today, the first Saturday of May, is National Fitness Day. Numerous activists have promoted fitness; one credited contributor was Kim Bielak, a life and career coach based in Los Angeles.

While it is essential to keep the fitness of our mind and body, counterintuitively, it is also critical for us to know that we are not aware of “doing exercise.”

Why?

From human instinct, it is a novel idea to go to a specific destination and only to build up our bodies. Looking back on our anthropology history, none of our hunter gathered ancestors’ activities was for “doing exercise.” Physical movements have already embeded in their daily routine. In the 19th century, Treadmills (tread wheels) was invented by William Cubitt for the Victorians to punish the prisoners, not to “benefit overall well-being.” Therefore, if we inject “movements” routines into our daily life, it minimizes our innate resistance to “work-out,” which makes “work-out” and “exercise” more available to us. When we realize that theory, walking would be the most basic form of physical exercise.

According to studies, the minimum recommended dose for exercise is 150 mins per week. If we keep this “150 mins-movement” habit, we will lose about 0.5 pounds (lb.) per month and can lose about 6 pounds if we continue this routine for one year. Also, because 30 percent of our muscle mass counts for 20 percent of metabolism; the older we are, the more benefit we can gain from exercise.

A study by Ralph Paffenbarger, a Stanford and Harvard University professor, found a correlation between exercise and mortality rate. Under the exact circumstances of doing 2000 kcal per week, the mortality rate drops 21 percent among the age group of fifty and less; the mortality rate drops 50 percent for the age group of seventy to eighty-four.

Interestedly, one of our neighborhood community center integrated the recreation and library program into one building. This brilliant gesture reminded us of a WELL design principle.

“Active design considers how different building components such as staircases can encourage movement.” — WELL V01, Active Buildings, and Communities.

Whether you are a fitness enthusiast or fitness cavalier, on National Fitness Day, we design this card for users at the Wheaton Community Centers, thanks to them share their healthy lifestyle with everyone in the community.

---

By the way, if you are interested in this topic, consider watching a Google talk by Dan Liberman, “Exercised- why something we never evolved.”