The people of Roseto, Pennsylvania didn’t know they were saving each other’s lives.
During the 1950’s and ’60’s, Roseto was a medical anomaly.
Despite no particular dietary or genetic influence, the people who lived in this village had little to no heart disease before they were 65 years old. And, when they finally began to show signs of cardiac problems, they experienced it at half the rate of other people.
In fact, it seemed that the citizens of Roseto, who traced their roots to Roseto Valfortore, Itally, didn’t acquire many diseases or disorders at all. Rosetans basically died of old age.
What was the secret behind the Rosetans’ good health? It wasn’t the usual suspects. No, the lifestyle choices we promote today were virtually absent in Roseto. They cooked withlard, smoked at much higher rates than average Americans, and were struggling with obesity.
But, there was something a little different about Roseto. While World War II veterans were moving into one of the 41 mass-produced, neighborhoods of Levittown, Pennsylvania, Rosetans were nestled into 0.6 square miles - savoring the paesani culture their forebearers established in Roseto in the 1890’s.
Rosetans couldn’t avoid knowing their neighbors. They enjoyed a great social support system. They visited with each other. They cared about each other. They respected each other.
The good health of the good people of Roseto, Pennsylvania was related to a collective place and its rituals, social customs and values - not to individual choices and isolated acts.
And those rituals saved the Rosetans’ lives.
by Caroll
