Puna Hongwanji is now “Blue Zones Project Approved™!”

Puna Hongwanji Mission has now officially completed its pledge to become Blue Zones Project Approved™. The Blue Zones Project fosters communities in which healthful food and other choices extend lives and improve quality of life.

Rev. Tomioka accepts Blue Zones Project certificate
Blue Zones Project approval certificate closeup

A certificate presented to the temple by the Blue Zones Project Big Island reads, “By implementing healthy, evidence-based options, this organization has helped improve its members’ well-being — making healthy choices easier.”

The organization congratulated Puna Hongwanji Mission on becoming the latest Approved Faith-based Organization, writing on Instagram:

They have incorporated so many health and wellness best practices such as being a host site & encourage volunteers for The Food Basket Food Distributions Kupuna Program, hosted healthy Plant Slant Cooking Demos and samples open to our community, hold regular church clean ups, incorporated more healthy dishes into potlucks and church meetings, allow their hall to be used for many active activities such as yoga and taiko drumming and have a really cool robust garden with bitter melon, soy beans, kabocha pumpkin, kale, tomatoes, & Okinawan sweet potato just to name a few! They are located in East Hawai’i in the heart of Kea’au. Way to go Puna Hongwanji Mission!

To which we reply, “Thank you Blue Zones Project Big Island!!”