The Roseto Stone

I just read Gladwell's 'Outliers' and loved it. I like the part about the town of Roseto, a town in Pennsylvania where everyone had come from the Italian town of Roseto. In 1950's the healthiest people in country lived there even though they were chubby, ate fat instead of olive oil, and smoked. After looking at every conceivable reason (genes, diet, work,

etc.) they stumbled on answer..........'Community'! Once again we find that what we want to call 'holistic', or now find a way to call, 'sustainable', are just ways for us to avoid the word, 'community'. Community means a thriving organism of people involved in and sustaining all aspects of

life.

I don't mean to be all Confuscius-like with the emphasis on collective over individual as I am not implying sacrifice of individual for community. Rather, it is the simple daily interactions between community members and the need to obtain food and shelter which, if examined, are linked to ecology, mental health, physical health, town planning, etc.

Here's to Roseto! (top pic is Roseto, Italy; bottom is Roseto, Penn.)